(11 May 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4433914
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Istanbul - 27 April 2023
1. Makeshift election campaign tents, billboards and opposition party volunteers distributing flyers
HEADLINE: TURKEY HEADS TO POLLS IN PIVOTAL ELECTIONS
ANNOTATION: Turkey is holding presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Istanbul - 30 April 2023
2. Various of opposition and Erdogan election banners, posters
ANNOTATION: The result may send President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade.
ANNOTATION: Or, depending on the outcome, it may set the country on a more democratic course.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tekirdag - 27 April 2023
3. Billboard of opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu
ANNOTATION: The main challenger trying to dislodge Erdogan is Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP.
4. Kilicdaroglu at election rally
ANNOTATION: The main challenger trying to dislodge Erdogan is Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP.
5. Wide of opposition alliance banners
ANNOTATION: The opposition has vowed to dismantle the executive presidential system that Erdogan installed and return the country to a parliamentary democracy.
6. Close of same, Turkish flags
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Istanbul - 30 April 2023
7. Wide of opposition and Erdogan election banners, billboards
ANNOTATION: President Erdogan, who is 69, has been in power for 20 years and is seeking a third term in office after serving as prime minister three times.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Istanbul - 26 April 2023
8. Various of a ruling AK Party makeshift election tent, pictures of Erdogan
ANNOTATION: The elections are being held amid a sharp economic downturn, rampant inflation and just months after a catastrophic earthquake.
9. Close of Turkish flags and pictures of Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, hanging over a busy street
10. Wide of same
ANNOTATION: The race is very close and it is likely to be decided in a runoff between the two frontrunners on May 28.
STORYLINE:
Turkey is holding key presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday that could either stretch President Recep Tayyip Erdogan increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade or set the country on a more democratic course.
The main challenger trying to dislodge Erdogan after 20 years in office in the May 14 presidential race, is Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the secular, center-left Republican People’s Party, or CHP.
The 74-year-old politician is the joint candidate of a six-party alliance, the so-called Table of Six, that has vowed to dismantle an executive presidential system that Erdogan installed and return the country to a parliamentary democracy with checks and balances.
Where Erdogan is a mesmerizing orator, the unassuming Kemal Kilicdaroglu is soft spoken.
Erdogan is also a master campaigner who uses state resources and events to reach supporters while Kilicdaroglu talks to voters in videos recorded in his kitchen.
As the polarizing Erdogan has grown increasingly authoritarian, Kilicdaroglu has built a reputation as a bridge builder and vows to restore democracy.
Kilicdaroglu has also clinched the support of the country’s pro-Kurdish party, which garners around 10% of the votes.
Polls have given Kilicdaroglu a slight lead over Erdogan, who has lost some ground amid a faltering economy and a cost-of-living crisis.
His government has also been criticized for its poor response following a deadly earthquake that struck southern Turkey.
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