Erdogan breathes new life into Turkey's opposition
An Erdogan victory is looking less inevitable with a move by the Republican People's Party that will allow the right-wing Good Party to contest elections in June and perhaps draw former President Abdullah Gul into the running to once again lead Turkey.
Electoral politics in Turkey — steadily fading with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s determined march toward one-man rule — has charged back with a vengeance. In the past few days, the country’s secular, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) delighted Erodgan critics when it “loaned” 15 of its lawmakers to the fellow oppositionist Good Party in a gambit aimed at ensuring the latter’s participation in the June 24 snap election.
“[CHP leader] Kemal Kilicdaroglu is beyond all praise,” marveled Good leader Meral Aksener in a statement. “This is a democratic approach of historic proportions.”
