Are the Turkish elections Erdogan’s biggest test yet?

The Turkish president is facing a serious challenge in Sunday’s election.

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attend a rally ahead of the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections in Ankara, Turkey, May 11, 2023
Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a rally before the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections in Ankara, Turkey, May 11, 2023 [Cagla Gurdogan/Reuters]

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spent nearly two decades at the top of Turkey’s democracy – first as prime minister, now as president. On May 14, Turkey will head to the polls in the first round of the country’s presidential elections, and it is highly contested after the last few years. As for his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, he once won an award as Turkey’s “bureaucrat of the year”. Now, he is the face of a broad coalition, representing everyone from right to left – all with the goal of turning the page on Erdogan’s presidency. Will they succeed?

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Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Negin Owliaei with Sonia Bhagat and our host, Malika Bilal. Khaled Soltan fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Munera Al Dosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. 

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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Source: Al Jazeera