Politics of Turkey

We knew from the start that the calm interlude in Greek-Turkish relations would not last forever. It was a careful but temporary agreement that will expire after the elections are completed in Greece and Turkey. Now, we see Ankara slowly returning to an aggressive rhetoric.

Turkey's anti-immigrant Victory Party leader endorsed opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Wednesday, potentially boosting the challenger as he aims to make up ground and defeat President Tayyip Erdogan in Sunday's runoff election.

The man challenging for the Turkish presidency has accused President Tayyip Erdogan of being a "fabricator" after he cited a doctored video to allege opposition links to an outlawed militant Kurdish group ahead of a runoff election on Sunday.

The third-placed contender in the Turkish presidential elections formally endorsed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday for the second-round runoff vote to be held on May 28.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) shaking hands with former presidential candidate of the ATA Alliance, Sinan Ogan (L) in Istanbul. 19 May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/PRESIDENT PRESS OFFICE HANDOUT

"I will support President Erdogan in the second round and I call on our supporters to vote for People's Alliance's candidate Erdogan," Ogan said on Monday.

Sinan Oğan, the presidential candidate of the ATA Alliance who received around 5.2 percent of the votes in the first round, has announced that he will support President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the runoff elections slated for May 28.

Sinan Oğan from Ata Alliance, who received 5 percent of the votes in the first round of the presidential elections, is expected to announce his decision of who he will extend his support to in the upcoming presidential runoff on May 22.

"With the strength I have derived from affection, I have spent my whole political life to serve our nation. I became Mayor of Istanbul, Prime Minister and President of Türkiye, but I have never given up this quest, this determination,"President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 19.

Türkiye's Supreme Election Board on May 19 confirmed the results of the first round of Türkiye's presidential election in which neither incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan nor his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, receiving the majority support needed for an outright victory.

The Turkish presidential election result was a blow to Turkey, to Greece, to the broader region and to democracy as a whole. While the rule in democracy is that we respect the will of the people, democracy's enduring weakness is that it contributes to its own undoing.