President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched his ruling party’s bid to stay in power, as he seeks to extend his leadership of Turkey beyond 20 years.
He is facing his stiffest challenge yet from six opposition parties who have combined forces for presidential and parliamentary elections on 14 May.
Turkey faces soaring inflation and is reeling from twin earthquakes that have left 50,000 people dead. Mr Erdogan and his ruling AK Party say they will bring inflation down to single figures, a commitment already made by their opponents.
Turkey has become increasingly authoritarian under President Erdogan and the opposition is seeking to reverse that.
Any candidate that can secure more than half the presidential vote on 14 May is the outright winner. Failing that, the race goes to a run-off two weeks later.
Whichever party wins the parliamentary vote is seen as having a psychological advantage if the presidential election goes to a second round.
Erdogan’s challenge
Turkey’s voters have been polarised for years, but Mr Erdogan, 69, is under pressure as never before. Turkey has become increasingly authoritarian under its current leader, who runs Turkey from a vast palace with much of the media controlled by his allies.
He has ruled Turkey since 2003, initially as prime minister but then as president since 2014, dramatically increasing his powers three years later after a failed 2016 coup. His AK Party has been in power since November 2002.
Increasing numbers of Turks have blamed him for soaring inflation, because of his unorthodox refusal to raise interest rates. The official inflation rate is just above 50%, but academics say it is actually higher than 100%.
Turkey’s president and ruling party have also been widely criticised for failing to adapt Turkey’s construction practices before the 6 February earthquakes and for mishandling the search and rescue efforts afterwards.
Millions of Turks were left homeless in the 11 provinces affected by the quakes. Since many of them are seen as Erdogan party strongholds, the election could be won and lost in the east.
His AK Party is rooted in political Islam, but he has forged an alliance with the ultra-nationalist MHP.
Six opposition parties – one candidate
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, 74, comes across as a mild-mannered, bookish opponent and he has presided over a string of election defeats at the helm of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
How would the opposition change Turkey?
The Kilicdaroglu-led Nation’s Alliance alliance wants to restore Turkey’s parliamentary system and reform the presidency, removing the head of state’s right to veto legislation, cutting the post’s ties to political parties and making it electable every seven years.
The six parties also want to kickstart Turkey’s decades-long bid to join the European Union and restore “mutual trust” with the US, after years of fractious relations during the Erdogan years.
They have pledged to bring inflation below 10% within two years and send Syrian refugees home voluntarily. Turkey currently hosts some 3.6 million Syrian refugees.
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