The chances of defeating incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey’s 14 May presidential election are “very high”, but the outcome of the election is difficult to predict. About this in an interview with “Parliamentskaya Gazeta” said Semyon Bagdasarov, Head of the Center for Middle East and Central Asian Studies
According to the expert, the current presidential campaign in the country is different from the previous one in 2018.
“At that time, Erdogan had absolute authority. Not a single serious politician put forward his candidacy. Now it’s a different choice. “For the first time, Erdogan is on the verge of a possible defeat, which will have not only the end of his political life, but also more serious consequences for him,” Bagdasarov said.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the second main candidate for the presidency, has some advantages over himself, but Erdogan can count on a runoff. At the same time, the expert attributed the decline in the incumbent president’s rating to several factors.
“First of all, people are just tired. Second, there is terrible hyperinflation in Turkey, and the third factor can be called a devastating earthquake. Again, corruption. It turned out that the houses were built for bribery without complying with the law,” he said.
Formerly Recep Tayyip Erdogan expression his belief that he will win the presidential election. To win in the first round, a candidate must receive at least 50% of the votes plus 1 vote.