Turks abroad go to polls as historic election begins
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Absentee voting has begun in a number of European countries for the Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections, set to be held in Turkey on May 14.
Polls for the presidential election are still too close to call. A recent Al-Monitor poll put President Recep Tayyip Erdogan neck and neck with the main opposition contender, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Both stand at around 45%, though polls tend to favor the latter if a run-off election were to be held on June 28.
Voters will likely focus on the economy, the aftermath of the deadly February 6 earthquake, and refugee policy as they cast their ballots.
Erdogan’s policies have so far looked uninspired in all three categories. His government has refused to issue a course-correction on a faulty monetary policy which has crashed the lira’s value. His earthquake response has been widely criticized as slow and mired in accusations of corruption.
He has also made little headway in normalizing ties with the government of Bashar al-Assad, which would be necessary to resettle the around 4 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.
And he was subject to a very public health scare this week to boot.
Yet Kilicdaroglu has also failed to enthuse voters. His six-party opposition alliance is torn between far-right nationalists and those who hope to sway Kurdish voters –the likely kingmakers of this election – to lend their support to their presidential contender. Kilicdaroglu promised a return to the Western alliance and orthodox economic policies this week. However, his foreign policy goals have failed to significantly differentiate themselves from Erdogan’s.
The pro-Kurdish HDP party, whose support Kilicdaroglu needs for the presidential elections, endorsed the opposition candidate this week, having previously decided not to field their own contenders for the top job. “Turkey is heading to the most important elections in its history, facing multiple crises in political, social and economic fronts,” read an accompanying statement.
This week, the ruling government arrested at least 110 HDP politicians, journalists, lawyers, artists and other civil society members, mostly from Kurdish-majority regions in Turkey’s southeast, in a likely attempt to suppress the Kurdish vote in the coming elections.