Quake response and corruption give ‘Turkey’s Gandhi’ a chance to oust Erdogan – and help Ukraine
It appears that a mixture of corruption, oppression and natural disaster have left Erdogan’s hold on power weaker than it has ever been
The man dubbed “Turkey’s Gandhi” is set to take on Turkey’s hardman leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a May poll that could be this year’s most crucial election.
A victory by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, dubbed “Gandhi Kemal” – for both his physical resemblance to India’s Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi “Mahatma” Gandhi as well as modest demeanour – over his polar opposite Erdogan, could radically alter Turkey’s domestic course, impede Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and setback the cause of authoritarian leaders in the region and beyond, experts say.
A new, broad alliance of opposition parties announced this week, and led by Kilicdaroglu, believes it can push the increasingly authoritarian Erdogan out of power – as premier and then president – he has held for more than two decades.
The poll, touted for 14 May, will come just months after the deadly 6 February earthquake that rocked the country’s southeast, killing more than 50,000 people in Turkey and Syria. The incumbent has not been helped by the quake deaths, which were largely blamed on shoddy building practices and corruption.
There is also anger among Turks over soaring inflation and a currency crisis that last year saw nearly 30 per cent slashed off the lira’s value against the dollar.
As a result, AK Party leader Erdogan, 69, faces the fiercest opposition yet to his rule. Polls suggest a very tight race. Read More…
