Presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey will take place on May 14.
Photo: REUTERS
How will the 2023 Turkish presidential election take place?
Presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey will be held on May 14, 2023. In them, the citizens of the republic will elect the president and members of the Grand National Assembly (parliament) of Turkey for a five-year term. More than 64 million people over the age of 18 have the right to vote in the country. They will receive two ballot papers, on which they must place a vote stamp with the word “EVET” (tur. “SI”) next to the name of one of the candidates and the political party. Turkey traditionally has a high voter turnout of more than 80%, which is also expected in this election.
Candidates for the 2023 Turkish presidential election
The Supreme Electoral Council approved four presidential candidates. This is the current president of the republic and chairman of the conservative center-right Justice and Development Party, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 69, candidate of a coalition of six opposition parties and chairman of the center-left Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kılıçdaroglu, 74, chairman of the center-left Motherland Party, Muharrem Ince, 59, and right-wing Ataturkist Alliance candidate Sinan Ogan, 55.
On May 11, Inzhde withdrew his candidacy, leaving three contenders for the republic’s highest office. If none of them obtains more than 50% of the votes in the first round, the second round of the elections will be held on May 28.
Erdoğan vs. Kılıçdaroglu: his attitude towards Russia
The main fight for the presidency is expected to unfold between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu. The incumbent advocates the preservation of fundamental historical and Islamic values, as well as a multi-vector foreign policy, while his main rival is considered a pro-Western candidate, although he supports developing relations with Russia. In addition, Kılıçdaroğlu, if he wins the elections, promises to initiate a return to the parliamentary form of government that existed in Turkey before the 2017 constitutional referendum.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Photo: REUTERS
Parliamentary elections in Türkiye
Twenty-four political parties united in five blocks will participate in the parliamentary elections. To enter parliament, a party or coalition must obtain at least 7% of the vote.
The parties of the ruling bloc “Republican Alliance”, the opposition bloc “Alianza del Pueblo” and the bloc of left-wing parties “Alianza del Trabajo y la Libertad” have the best chances of representation in the country’s highest legislative body. The Republican Alliance included the ruling Justice and Development Party, the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party, and two small right-wing parties. The People’s Alliance included the Republican People’s Party, the center-right nationalist Good Party, the right-wing pro-Islamic Happiness Party, and three smaller center-right parties. The Freedom and Labor Alliance brought together the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party and six smaller left-wing parties.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
Photo: REUTERS
Predictions for the result of the elections in Turkey on May 14, 2023
Most polls show leadership in the presidential race, Kılıçdaroğlu, who is ahead of Erdogan by a small percentage of the vote. Thus, according to the latest survey by the Konda company, Kılıçdaroglu obtained 49.3% of the votes and Erdogan 43.7%.
In the parliamentary elections, the poll gives the victory to the ruling “Republican Alliance” – 44%, the opposition “People’s Alliance” is winning 39.9%, the leftist “Labor and Freedom Alliance” -12.3%.
And a poll by the ORC company, which gave the closest results to reality in the previous 2018 presidential elections, promises Kılıçdaroglu a victory in the first round with 51.7% of the vote, while Erdoğan won 44. ,2 %.
