Turkey’s lone 'she-wolf' leaves opposition fractured
Turkey’s Good Party leader Meral Aksener has inspired hope among many that she could beat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the June polls, but others fear she's standing in the way of a united opposition challenge.
ANKARA, Turkey — Meral Aksener, the secular nationalist leader of Turkey’s Iyi or Good Party, known as the “she-wolf” of Turkish politics, was the first to declare she would challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in June's snap elections, which many see as the last chance to stop Turkey’s descent into full-fledged authoritarian rule. The polls, in which Erdogan relies on a conservative-nationalist alliance between his Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), will mark Turkey’s transition to a new governance system headed by a virtually omnipotent president.
Aksener has inspired hope among many that she could beat Erdogan, but her apparently intransigent strategy has sparked concerns she might ultimately enable Erdogan to overcome an opposition that is for the first time making efforts to join forces.
