Turkey’s very big deal elections are headed to a May 28 runoff, after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his main opposition challenger failed to win a majority in the first round of voting.
This election was perhaps the biggest test yet to Erdoğan’s authority. The populist has led Turkey for 20 years. He has consolidated power around him, and largely controls the media and state resources, so the opposition forcing the leader to a run-off for the first time in his presidential career is a remarkable feat.
Yet Erdoğan emerged from the first round in a strong position, winning 49.5 percent of the vote Sunday, according to Turkey’s Supreme Election Council, with Kemal Kiliçdaroğlu, the leader of a six-party opposition alliance, tallying 44.89 percent.
That’s a disappointment for the opposition, especially as Kiliçdaroğlu appeared to have a slight edge in the polls before Sunday’s vote. Kiliçdaroğlu had promised to restore Turkey’s democracy and independent institutions and press, along with tackling Turkey’s floundering economy. He had run a plainspoken campaign that spoke directly to constituents, and had tried to soften his party’s (the Republican People’s Party, or CHP) secularist stances to try to appeal to a broader swath of voters.
But Erdoğan once again proved his electoral strength, even if this is the first time he hasn’t won a presidential election outright. His party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), and its biggest allies, also looked poised to retain a majority in parliament, based on preliminary election results.
Both candidates promised victory in the May 28 runoff, but Erdoğan has the clear advantage. He already has a built-in edge, dominating the airwaves and using state resources to do things like give public workers big raises, and he may reprise similar tactics in the next two weeks. His biggest potential challenges — Turkey’s economic woes, and his government’s handling of an earthquake that…
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