Erdogan blasts polling as Turkey's local elections approach
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, long a close observer of opinion polls, now indicates they are not to be trusted when it comes to March 31 local elections that may put his leadership to the test.
ANKARA, Turkey — Turks are intrigued by what will happen March 31 when they elect new town councils. Rarely have municipal elections been so important. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has addressed a rally in a different city every day this week, and we are still four and a half weeks from polling day.
The reason is simple: the polls are a referendum on Erdogan and this time, with the economy in the doldrums, the opposition is believed to have a better-than-ever chance of humiliating the president.
