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That property is Demirören's; their family know that all their property will be confiscated, so they are selling hastily. Whoever buys will pay much less because of the circumstances, and is also implicated. Demirörens take the money and put it in their tax haven in Virgin Islands where the government can't reach, and now the government also can't confiscate the property because it has changed hands. They will have to anull the contract, and then AKP with their media empire will start crying foul about how they hate Baykar. That's the plan, it's an obvious plan and it will happen exactly as I've described it. You guys know nothing about Turkish domestic issues, sit this one out.
Ok let me give you the same answer again. What you know about turkish politics, is a fraction of what happened or what is happening. You dont speak turkish so all you have is akp goons on twitter who publish english content. The problem lies here. You speak based on your very one sided and little knowledge.Certainly, Iam not a Turk and I cant vote; without a doubt, Iam not feeling the pain of the current economic conditions of Turks in Turkiye and may god bless all of them. However, to understand politics, you dont need to belong to the nation in question and you dont need to feel the pain of the Turks to understand how a politician is gonna work
As long as a politician is "corrupt", it gets easy to plan out his thought process.... period!
I said b4 that KK wouldnt be able to kick out the refugees and guess what? KK's plan for kicking the refugees is neigh impossible and makes the individual feel as if this plan came out from a caveman who is 10 years old and doesnt understand anything about geopolitics. I recommend that KK re-enter a university and work on egtting a certificate/diploma again ffs
I said b4 that KK cant even fix the economy and oh boy I was right! KK promised to give gold to all citizens from the TCMB, promised to raise all salaries by the DOUBLE, promised to provide all new homes free of charge in earthquake areas, promised to reduce taxes, promised to provide free cattle in the tens to farmers, promised to raise interest rates, promised for continuous growth the moment he sets in office, promised to reduce inflation.... etc.... and god knows from where he is gonna bring all the funds that will probably surpass the trillions into the country to solve all this contradictory shit
KK said that he will provide EU free-Visa travel in 3 months only for the German foreign minister to rebuke him and state that even if KK comes to office, the EU wont give the Turks free visa travel. In essence, Turkey will comply with EU anti-terror laws, will release Demirtas and other PKK members only to get the middle finger from Europe..... period!
I said that KK will never be democratic and will instead solidify his power no matter the consequences after he is elected..... now his team states that he intends to bypass the parliament (if he didnt get the majority) and rule the country and direct it wherever his whims fit through presidential decrees.....like wow, and you ppl believe that you will be able to kick such a person in 2029? Hahaha, grow up mate
Like mate, that guy even admitted that he used fake videos in the Turkish national assembly for years to pass on his agenda, looooool! But who cares mate, as long as I fantasize that KK will be the epitome of democracy, it will all work out mate
We can go on and on but to no avail; all will turn a blind eye to the mistakes of their beloved "football team". All what I want to say is that KK is screwing up this much and he isnt even ruling the country; hell, there is still 10 days for the elections.
Dont get me wrong though, Erdogan needs to go. The guy did his service for 20 years and it is time for change but we normally change into the better not the worse by bringing Kilicdaroglu..... that guy is like a mini dictator for gods sake
I dont like kilicdaroglu, when he pushed his candidacy i went mad. İ was hoping for yavas to become candidate. I dont like chp to become allies with hdp either but these are nothing compared to the akp inflicted to this country. Turkey never saw a missmanagement like this in the republic era. The level of corruption is not comparable to anything and they killed democracy. This country is not democratic anymore, 2019 elections does not prove anything ablut democracy.
This is the last election we wont have an “election” next time. It will be something like russia. If KK wins and fucks up i will vote against him in the next elections but i wont have the same chance if akp wins again.
You can be sure that all turks that make this country great (as well as the ones in the defence industry ) will be gone, they will move to europe. Do you know the rate of the brain drain we have at the moment. For many people like me this is the last way out before the tunnel. Many young and qualified people will make their decisions based on the result of this elections.
You watch defence industry accoplishments and you love erdogan, yeah ok i have no problems. But when you talk about interior problems. Thats become absurt.
also when it comes to what kilicdar claims and what he can do... at least he wants to do something, at least he wants to move refugees out. Erdogan doesnt want that he lives in his palaces, uses couple jets to go from one city to another, he has an army around him around 4000 bodyguards in total following him everywhere. And he has no problem with peoples suffering or making something would be beneficial for in the short term and would have devastating affects for the country in the long term.
People around him are extremely incompetent and they rule the country from one palace like its a local small market. They have no long term plan. They just do what is beneficial for them.
You say all KK promises are lies.
erdogan has been telling lies for over 20 years. Much bigger lies.
people cant afford meat and according to researches turkish people have malnutricion. Yet erdogan and his goons make fun of “people cant buy onion” claims of opposition.
And he is such a populist, he would have no problem using religious or nationalistic things to hit opposition. He used to raise a kuran in the air during his meetings, he always milked peoples respect and love for religion and homeland.
Lol look at this. Of course he will go with private jet. At least they pay themselves. They go city to city every day turkey is not albania. You cannot do 2 meetings in different places for weeks nonstop without planes.
Once again you are blinded by akp twitter media propaganda. At the same time all those akp ministers that run for PM elections use state owned jets for their campaigns.
and erdogan uses this:
Qatar's emir 'gives $500m private jet to Turkey' - BBC News
Turkey's president says the Boeing 747-8i was a "present" from the gas-rich Gulf state.
www.bbc.com
edit: nobody believe katar sheikh gifted it btw. He probably bought it from the presidency budget which is secret
edit2: according to court of account which is a state department. In 2020 erdogan was spending somewhere between 10-20 million A DAY.
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Breaking
Ragip soylu, MEE reporter, is reporting of massive internal conflict within the table of the 6! Most the involved parties are fighting over whom gets the largest piece of the cake. Kilicdaroglu cant even make an economic team due to the different philosophies and promises to their supporters of the parties involved regarding the economy...... just like I sad long ago
I really love this guy, his thoughts align with mine on a lot of occasions. @Sanchez as I have said, you dont need to be a Turk to understand how corrupt officials perform politics
Presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu makes a speech at an electoral rally in Izmir, Turkey on 30 April (Anadolu Agency)
As Turkey approaches its 14 May elections, an opposition victory is increasingly plausible.
But international investors and foreign diplomats are fixated on one major concern: Would the so-called Table of Six opposition coalition stay united after capturing the presidency?
It is an unlikely alliance, to say the least. You have nationalists sitting with Islamists, secular liberals side-by-side with social conservatives, and politicians who have always fought the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) alongside former ministers in Erdogan’s previous government.
Big parties would have to share power with parties that struggle to get one percent of the vote.
Their alliance is held together by a president they all hate. Their programme is stitched together in a 234-page book, the Memorandum of Understanding on Common Policies, an opposition bible covering everything from the economy to foreign policy to the environment.
Ibrahim Canakci, Deva party deputy chairman, taps it, picks it up, and puts it down frequently. He says any dispute within the opposition could be resolved by going over the memorandum’s extensive text.
“We have written agreements that we have already announced to the public,” Canakci told Middle East Eye. “We have declared to the public our intention to transform Turkey’s current presidential system into a strengthened parliamentary system and we have agreed on the concrete elements.”
The protocol suggests each political party would be represented in the cabinet by at least one minister, and their appointment or sacking by the president would be done in agreement with that party’s leader.
It also says the president would get a sign-off from all the parties' leaders when making a senior appointment.
But that is certainly not the way politics has worked in Turkey under any administration in its history. Can we expect it to work now? Is a gentleman’s agreement really enough?
One of the signatories has already walked away once before.
Meral Aksener, the chairman of Turkish nationalist Good Party (IYI), briefly broke up with the coalition in March, metaphorically smashing the "Table" in anger and opposing Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s joint candidacy for the presidential elections.
After a tense few hours, Aksener came back to the fold. But there have been other cracks.
IYI Party Chairman Meral Aksener delivers a speech at a rally with Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in December 2022 (Reuters)
The coalition hasn’t been able to pledge to rejoin the Istanbul Convention against violence towards women and girls, because one of its leaders, Islamist Felicity Party chairman Temel Karamollaoglu, believes it undermines family values and promotes the LGBTQ community.
Another flashpoint has been the harsh criticisim of the AKP’s economic policies over the past two decades that has been meted out by Bilge Yilmaz, a senior IYI official who is tipped to become economy minister.
Yet the AKP may not be his real target. Instead, his ire is likely directed towards another man around the opposition “Table”: Ali Babacan.
The chairman of the Democracy and Progress Party (Deva) and Erdogan’s former deputy prime minister was the man behind many of the economic policies now targeted by Yilmaz.
Yilmaz denies having Babacan in his sights, but he continues to chip away at his credentials.
Karamollaoglu has also had his gripes with Babacan. The Felicity Party leader unsuccessfully attempted to convince Babacan’s Deva to run under his own party‘s ticket, arguing it would gain more seats in the parliament.
During a TV interview last month, Karamollaoglu angrily accused Deva of failing to lure liberal conservative urban voters away from Erdogan. “They couldn’t even properly steal votes from the AK Party,” he said.
Karamollaoglu added that he found it really strange that Deva, a new party that was founded in 2019, asked the much-experienced Felicity Party to run under its own ticket.
In the end, they will both run under the slate of Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People's Party (CHP).
Despite the Memorandum’s protocol saying top offices would be appointed following an agreement with all Table of Six parties, in early April Kilicdaroglu hinted to the public that he would give ministerial positions to two top CHP figures: the energy ministry to Ahmet Akin and justice ministry to Muharrem Erkek.
Notably, he hasn’t suggested it since, likely aware of possible fallout among his partners in other parties.
A senior Turkish opposition official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told MEE: “There are two echelons in this election period: presidential elections, parliamentary elections, and finally municipal elections, which are scheduled for next year.
“Everyone would want to capture more metropolitan cities to establish a good harmony between local and the central governments. We already control 11 out of 16 of those cities,” they added.
“We will prioritise domestic politics, resolving judicial and governing issues to re-establish the rule of law, checks, and balances, and separation of powers,” the official added.
But what if the opposition cannot take a majority in parliament but has won the presidency? How would they govern?
"Then we would be forced to use only things we have: presidential decrees,” the official said.
The irony is not lost on this official. An opposition hell-bent on reducing the powers of an overreaching president and restoring parliament - both of which would involve constitutional change - would have to rule at least in the short term by using the full powers of the presidency. Erdogan’s inheritance would remain.
Opposition sources call this a “transition”. But how many times in the Middle East has the temporary become permanent?
Kilicdaroglu this week said that he would reveal his economics team before the elections. Some say it might be on Sunday when he holds a massive rally in Istanbul.
And there would be numerous senior economic positions to be filled, from the governor of the central bank to ministries to regulatory bodies, public banks, and financial institutes.
If that would be relatively straightforward, picking names for cabinet positions could prove tricky, especially for the interior ministry and justice ministry.
Traditionally, Turkish nationalists have always had a strong presence in these ministries and the security sector. But Erdogan’s alliance with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) since 2016 has emboldened and cemented the nationalists' reach.
And there are concerns that if the IYI nationalist opposition party gets either of these ministries, there would be no genuine reform since the party is a breakaway from the MHP and shares the same state-oriented look.
To avoid that, the CHP might need to sacrifice an important position, like the foreign ministry, to accommodate the IYI.
A second senior Turkish opposition official had a more pessimistic view than his colleague, saying it is likely that there would be a huge potential for discord if the opposition was victorious.
“I’m afraid that the disunity will prevent us from doing the tasks we promised to do,” the official told MEE. “We will try our best but we are aware of the pot holes.”
Some Ankara observers believe Aksener’s decision to briefly leave the Table of Six coalition was very telling for the general overview of the opposition, indicating that they might not run a coherent government.
CHP deputy chairman Oguz Kaan Salici doesn’t agree with that notion.
“Aksener left the table due to her certain concerns and everything happened in the public view, nothing was hidden,” he said during a news conference with foreign journalists last week. “She came back as at least some of her concerns were eliminated. Now, we are even stronger.”
Aksener had wanted popular Istanbul and Ankara mayors Ekrem Imamoglu and Mansur Yavas to run for the presidency instead of Kilicdaroglu.
In the end, Kilicdaroglu agreed to Aksener’s proposal to give them vice presidential positions if he wins.
Some believe Imamoglu and Yavas have increased Kilicdaroglu’s popularity by being part of his campaign as they are able to connect with wide audiences.
Salici claims that there is no problem within the alliance anymore. “Also, people have seen how successful we are running the municipalities we won in 2019,” he said.
The opposition is quite aware of the questions over its unity. This is why the massive opposition rally in Izmir on Sunday was an important opportunity.
All six opposition leaders along with the two mayors and their spouses together made an appearance on stage for the first time on the campaign trail, making a heart symbol with their hands.
Still, the underlying tensions remain. Images of Kilicdaroglu have until recently been strangely absent from campaign videos by Imamoglu and Yavas. Everyone appears to be thinking one step ahead.
www.middleeasteye.net
Ragip soylu, MEE reporter, is reporting of massive internal conflict within the table of the 6! Most the involved parties are fighting over whom gets the largest piece of the cake. Kilicdaroglu cant even make an economic team due to the different philosophies and promises to their supporters of the parties involved regarding the economy...... just like I sad long ago
I really love this guy, his thoughts align with mine on a lot of occasions. @Sanchez as I have said, you dont need to be a Turk to understand how corrupt officials perform politics
Turkey elections: Can the opposition stay together if they win?
Cracks within this unlikely alliance have emerged way before polling day. Sources are divided over whether the parties' gentleman's agreement will be enough to govern
Presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu makes a speech at an electoral rally in Izmir, Turkey on 30 April (Anadolu Agency)
As Turkey approaches its 14 May elections, an opposition victory is increasingly plausible.
But international investors and foreign diplomats are fixated on one major concern: Would the so-called Table of Six opposition coalition stay united after capturing the presidency?
It is an unlikely alliance, to say the least. You have nationalists sitting with Islamists, secular liberals side-by-side with social conservatives, and politicians who have always fought the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) alongside former ministers in Erdogan’s previous government.
Big parties would have to share power with parties that struggle to get one percent of the vote.
Their alliance is held together by a president they all hate. Their programme is stitched together in a 234-page book, the Memorandum of Understanding on Common Policies, an opposition bible covering everything from the economy to foreign policy to the environment.
Ibrahim Canakci, Deva party deputy chairman, taps it, picks it up, and puts it down frequently. He says any dispute within the opposition could be resolved by going over the memorandum’s extensive text.
“We have written agreements that we have already announced to the public,” Canakci told Middle East Eye. “We have declared to the public our intention to transform Turkey’s current presidential system into a strengthened parliamentary system and we have agreed on the concrete elements.”
Gentleman's agreement
When speaking to MEE, Canakci time and again referred back to the memorandum to respond to policy questions, explaining that there is a framework to address disputes with the other parties, including a protocol that makes sure every party in the coalition gets its fair share.The protocol suggests each political party would be represented in the cabinet by at least one minister, and their appointment or sacking by the president would be done in agreement with that party’s leader.
It also says the president would get a sign-off from all the parties' leaders when making a senior appointment.
But that is certainly not the way politics has worked in Turkey under any administration in its history. Can we expect it to work now? Is a gentleman’s agreement really enough?
One of the signatories has already walked away once before.
Meral Aksener, the chairman of Turkish nationalist Good Party (IYI), briefly broke up with the coalition in March, metaphorically smashing the "Table" in anger and opposing Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s joint candidacy for the presidential elections.
After a tense few hours, Aksener came back to the fold. But there have been other cracks.
IYI Party Chairman Meral Aksener delivers a speech at a rally with Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in December 2022 (Reuters)
The coalition hasn’t been able to pledge to rejoin the Istanbul Convention against violence towards women and girls, because one of its leaders, Islamist Felicity Party chairman Temel Karamollaoglu, believes it undermines family values and promotes the LGBTQ community.
Another flashpoint has been the harsh criticisim of the AKP’s economic policies over the past two decades that has been meted out by Bilge Yilmaz, a senior IYI official who is tipped to become economy minister.
Yet the AKP may not be his real target. Instead, his ire is likely directed towards another man around the opposition “Table”: Ali Babacan.
The chairman of the Democracy and Progress Party (Deva) and Erdogan’s former deputy prime minister was the man behind many of the economic policies now targeted by Yilmaz.
Yilmaz denies having Babacan in his sights, but he continues to chip away at his credentials.
Karamollaoglu has also had his gripes with Babacan. The Felicity Party leader unsuccessfully attempted to convince Babacan’s Deva to run under his own party‘s ticket, arguing it would gain more seats in the parliament.
During a TV interview last month, Karamollaoglu angrily accused Deva of failing to lure liberal conservative urban voters away from Erdogan. “They couldn’t even properly steal votes from the AK Party,” he said.
Karamollaoglu added that he found it really strange that Deva, a new party that was founded in 2019, asked the much-experienced Felicity Party to run under its own ticket.
In the end, they will both run under the slate of Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People's Party (CHP).
Despite the Memorandum’s protocol saying top offices would be appointed following an agreement with all Table of Six parties, in early April Kilicdaroglu hinted to the public that he would give ministerial positions to two top CHP figures: the energy ministry to Ahmet Akin and justice ministry to Muharrem Erkek.
Notably, he hasn’t suggested it since, likely aware of possible fallout among his partners in other parties.
Municipal elections ahead
However strong the disputes, there is a powerful political incentive to hold this coalition together at least for another year if it were to secure the presidency, and possibly also the parliament.A senior Turkish opposition official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told MEE: “There are two echelons in this election period: presidential elections, parliamentary elections, and finally municipal elections, which are scheduled for next year.
“Everyone would want to capture more metropolitan cities to establish a good harmony between local and the central governments. We already control 11 out of 16 of those cities,” they added.
The official said capturing a majority in parliament would be a good boost to the opposition's morale as it would allow them to work on the changes they would like to make in the political system, including transforming Turkey back to a parliamentary system from a presidential one.
“We will prioritise domestic politics, resolving judicial and governing issues to re-establish the rule of law, checks, and balances, and separation of powers,” the official added.
But what if the opposition cannot take a majority in parliament but has won the presidency? How would they govern?
"Then we would be forced to use only things we have: presidential decrees,” the official said.
The irony is not lost on this official. An opposition hell-bent on reducing the powers of an overreaching president and restoring parliament - both of which would involve constitutional change - would have to rule at least in the short term by using the full powers of the presidency. Erdogan’s inheritance would remain.
Opposition sources call this a “transition”. But how many times in the Middle East has the temporary become permanent?
Disagreements
Foreign investors, meanwhile, are more concerned by the possible inconsistencies and disagreements among the opposition over monetary and economic policies.Kilicdaroglu this week said that he would reveal his economics team before the elections. Some say it might be on Sunday when he holds a massive rally in Istanbul.
But the economy might end up being the issue the opposition has the least trouble over, there are many former high-ranking bureaucrats, economists, bankers, and policymakers in the coalition.
And there would be numerous senior economic positions to be filled, from the governor of the central bank to ministries to regulatory bodies, public banks, and financial institutes.
If that would be relatively straightforward, picking names for cabinet positions could prove tricky, especially for the interior ministry and justice ministry.
Traditionally, Turkish nationalists have always had a strong presence in these ministries and the security sector. But Erdogan’s alliance with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) since 2016 has emboldened and cemented the nationalists' reach.
And there are concerns that if the IYI nationalist opposition party gets either of these ministries, there would be no genuine reform since the party is a breakaway from the MHP and shares the same state-oriented look.
To avoid that, the CHP might need to sacrifice an important position, like the foreign ministry, to accommodate the IYI.
A second senior Turkish opposition official had a more pessimistic view than his colleague, saying it is likely that there would be a huge potential for discord if the opposition was victorious.
“I’m afraid that the disunity will prevent us from doing the tasks we promised to do,” the official told MEE. “We will try our best but we are aware of the pot holes.”
Some Ankara observers believe Aksener’s decision to briefly leave the Table of Six coalition was very telling for the general overview of the opposition, indicating that they might not run a coherent government.
CHP deputy chairman Oguz Kaan Salici doesn’t agree with that notion.
“Aksener left the table due to her certain concerns and everything happened in the public view, nothing was hidden,” he said during a news conference with foreign journalists last week. “She came back as at least some of her concerns were eliminated. Now, we are even stronger.”
Aksener had wanted popular Istanbul and Ankara mayors Ekrem Imamoglu and Mansur Yavas to run for the presidency instead of Kilicdaroglu.
In the end, Kilicdaroglu agreed to Aksener’s proposal to give them vice presidential positions if he wins.
Some believe Imamoglu and Yavas have increased Kilicdaroglu’s popularity by being part of his campaign as they are able to connect with wide audiences.
Salici claims that there is no problem within the alliance anymore. “Also, people have seen how successful we are running the municipalities we won in 2019,” he said.
The opposition is quite aware of the questions over its unity. This is why the massive opposition rally in Izmir on Sunday was an important opportunity.
All six opposition leaders along with the two mayors and their spouses together made an appearance on stage for the first time on the campaign trail, making a heart symbol with their hands.
Still, the underlying tensions remain. Images of Kilicdaroglu have until recently been strangely absent from campaign videos by Imamoglu and Yavas. Everyone appears to be thinking one step ahead.
The Turkish opposition could win. But could it stay together?
Cracks within this unlikely alliance have emerged way before polling day. Sources are divided over whether the parties' gentleman's agreement will be enough to govern
www.middleeasteye.net
At least actual economy experts fight over who will deal with the economy.Breaking
Ragip soylu, MEE reporter, is reporting of massive internal conflict within the table of the 6! Most the involved parties are fighting over whom gets the largest piece of the cake. Kilicdaroglu cant even make an economic team due to the different philosophies and promises to their supporters of the parties involved regarding the economy...... just like I sad long ago
I really love this guy, his thoughts align with mine on a lot of occasions. @Sanchez as I have said, you dont need to be a Turk to understand how corrupt officials perform politics
Turkey elections: Can the opposition stay together if they win?
Cracks within this unlikely alliance have emerged way before polling day. Sources are divided over whether the parties' gentleman's agreement will be enough to govern
Presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu makes a speech at an electoral rally in Izmir, Turkey on 30 April (Anadolu Agency)
As Turkey approaches its 14 May elections, an opposition victory is increasingly plausible.
But international investors and foreign diplomats are fixated on one major concern: Would the so-called Table of Six opposition coalition stay united after capturing the presidency?
It is an unlikely alliance, to say the least. You have nationalists sitting with Islamists, secular liberals side-by-side with social conservatives, and politicians who have always fought the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) alongside former ministers in Erdogan’s previous government.
Big parties would have to share power with parties that struggle to get one percent of the vote.
Their alliance is held together by a president they all hate. Their programme is stitched together in a 234-page book, the Memorandum of Understanding on Common Policies, an opposition bible covering everything from the economy to foreign policy to the environment.
Ibrahim Canakci, Deva party deputy chairman, taps it, picks it up, and puts it down frequently. He says any dispute within the opposition could be resolved by going over the memorandum’s extensive text.
“We have written agreements that we have already announced to the public,” Canakci told Middle East Eye. “We have declared to the public our intention to transform Turkey’s current presidential system into a strengthened parliamentary system and we have agreed on the concrete elements.”
Gentleman's agreement
When speaking to MEE, Canakci time and again referred back to the memorandum to respond to policy questions, explaining that there is a framework to address disputes with the other parties, including a protocol that makes sure every party in the coalition gets its fair share.
The protocol suggests each political party would be represented in the cabinet by at least one minister, and their appointment or sacking by the president would be done in agreement with that party’s leader.
It also says the president would get a sign-off from all the parties' leaders when making a senior appointment.
But that is certainly not the way politics has worked in Turkey under any administration in its history. Can we expect it to work now? Is a gentleman’s agreement really enough?
One of the signatories has already walked away once before.
Meral Aksener, the chairman of Turkish nationalist Good Party (IYI), briefly broke up with the coalition in March, metaphorically smashing the "Table" in anger and opposing Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s joint candidacy for the presidential elections.
After a tense few hours, Aksener came back to the fold. But there have been other cracks.
IYI Party Chairman Meral Aksener delivers a speech at a rally with Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in December 2022 (Reuters)
The coalition hasn’t been able to pledge to rejoin the Istanbul Convention against violence towards women and girls, because one of its leaders, Islamist Felicity Party chairman Temel Karamollaoglu, believes it undermines family values and promotes the LGBTQ community.
Another flashpoint has been the harsh criticisim of the AKP’s economic policies over the past two decades that has been meted out by Bilge Yilmaz, a senior IYI official who is tipped to become economy minister.
Yet the AKP may not be his real target. Instead, his ire is likely directed towards another man around the opposition “Table”: Ali Babacan.
The chairman of the Democracy and Progress Party (Deva) and Erdogan’s former deputy prime minister was the man behind many of the economic policies now targeted by Yilmaz.
Yilmaz denies having Babacan in his sights, but he continues to chip away at his credentials.
Karamollaoglu has also had his gripes with Babacan. The Felicity Party leader unsuccessfully attempted to convince Babacan’s Deva to run under his own party‘s ticket, arguing it would gain more seats in the parliament.
During a TV interview last month, Karamollaoglu angrily accused Deva of failing to lure liberal conservative urban voters away from Erdogan. “They couldn’t even properly steal votes from the AK Party,” he said.
Karamollaoglu added that he found it really strange that Deva, a new party that was founded in 2019, asked the much-experienced Felicity Party to run under its own ticket.
In the end, they will both run under the slate of Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People's Party (CHP).
Despite the Memorandum’s protocol saying top offices would be appointed following an agreement with all Table of Six parties, in early April Kilicdaroglu hinted to the public that he would give ministerial positions to two top CHP figures: the energy ministry to Ahmet Akin and justice ministry to Muharrem Erkek.
Notably, he hasn’t suggested it since, likely aware of possible fallout among his partners in other parties.
Municipal elections ahead
However strong the disputes, there is a powerful political incentive to hold this coalition together at least for another year if it were to secure the presidency, and possibly also the parliament.
A senior Turkish opposition official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told MEE: “There are two echelons in this election period: presidential elections, parliamentary elections, and finally municipal elections, which are scheduled for next year.
“Everyone would want to capture more metropolitan cities to establish a good harmony between local and the central governments. We already control 11 out of 16 of those cities,” they added.
The official said capturing a majority in parliament would be a good boost to the opposition's morale as it would allow them to work on the changes they would like to make in the political system, including transforming Turkey back to a parliamentary system from a presidential one.
“We will prioritise domestic politics, resolving judicial and governing issues to re-establish the rule of law, checks, and balances, and separation of powers,” the official added.
But what if the opposition cannot take a majority in parliament but has won the presidency? How would they govern?
"Then we would be forced to use only things we have: presidential decrees,” the official said.
The irony is not lost on this official. An opposition hell-bent on reducing the powers of an overreaching president and restoring parliament - both of which would involve constitutional change - would have to rule at least in the short term by using the full powers of the presidency. Erdogan’s inheritance would remain.
Opposition sources call this a “transition”. But how many times in the Middle East has the temporary become permanent?
Disagreements
Foreign investors, meanwhile, are more concerned by the possible inconsistencies and disagreements among the opposition over monetary and economic policies.
Kilicdaroglu this week said that he would reveal his economics team before the elections. Some say it might be on Sunday when he holds a massive rally in Istanbul.
But the economy might end up being the issue the opposition has the least trouble over, there are many former high-ranking bureaucrats, economists, bankers, and policymakers in the coalition.
And there would be numerous senior economic positions to be filled, from the governor of the central bank to ministries to regulatory bodies, public banks, and financial institutes.
If that would be relatively straightforward, picking names for cabinet positions could prove tricky, especially for the interior ministry and justice ministry.
Traditionally, Turkish nationalists have always had a strong presence in these ministries and the security sector. But Erdogan’s alliance with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) since 2016 has emboldened and cemented the nationalists' reach.
And there are concerns that if the IYI nationalist opposition party gets either of these ministries, there would be no genuine reform since the party is a breakaway from the MHP and shares the same state-oriented look.
To avoid that, the CHP might need to sacrifice an important position, like the foreign ministry, to accommodate the IYI.
A second senior Turkish opposition official had a more pessimistic view than his colleague, saying it is likely that there would be a huge potential for discord if the opposition was victorious.
“I’m afraid that the disunity will prevent us from doing the tasks we promised to do,” the official told MEE. “We will try our best but we are aware of the pot holes.”
Some Ankara observers believe Aksener’s decision to briefly leave the Table of Six coalition was very telling for the general overview of the opposition, indicating that they might not run a coherent government.
CHP deputy chairman Oguz Kaan Salici doesn’t agree with that notion.
“Aksener left the table due to her certain concerns and everything happened in the public view, nothing was hidden,” he said during a news conference with foreign journalists last week. “She came back as at least some of her concerns were eliminated. Now, we are even stronger.”
Aksener had wanted popular Istanbul and Ankara mayors Ekrem Imamoglu and Mansur Yavas to run for the presidency instead of Kilicdaroglu.
In the end, Kilicdaroglu agreed to Aksener’s proposal to give them vice presidential positions if he wins.
Some believe Imamoglu and Yavas have increased Kilicdaroglu’s popularity by being part of his campaign as they are able to connect with wide audiences.
Salici claims that there is no problem within the alliance anymore. “Also, people have seen how successful we are running the municipalities we won in 2019,” he said.
The opposition is quite aware of the questions over its unity. This is why the massive opposition rally in Izmir on Sunday was an important opportunity.
All six opposition leaders along with the two mayors and their spouses together made an appearance on stage for the first time on the campaign trail, making a heart symbol with their hands.
Still, the underlying tensions remain. Images of Kilicdaroglu have until recently been strangely absent from campaign videos by Imamoglu and Yavas. Everyone appears to be thinking one step ahead.
The Turkish opposition could win. But could it stay together?
Cracks within this unlikely alliance have emerged way before polling day. Sources are divided over whether the parties' gentleman's agreement will be enough to govern
Erdogan have a thousand advisors and the most competent ones to rule the economy was
1. Berat Albayrak
2. Nurettin Nebati
3. Şahap Kavcioglu
this is the latest scandal by kavcioglu. Can someone translate this for the albanian friend.
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HahahaLol look at this. Of course he will go with private jet. At least they pay themselves. They go city to city every day turkey is not albania. You cannot do 2 meetings in different places for weeks nonstop without planes.
Once again you are blinded by akp twitter media propaganda. At the same time all those akp ministers that run for PM elections use state owned jets for their campaigns.
and erdogan uses this:
Qatar's emir 'gives $500m private jet to Turkey' - BBC News
Turkey's president says the Boeing 747-8i was a "present" from the gas-rich Gulf state.
edit: nobody believe katar sheikh gifted it btw. He probably bought it from the presidency budget which is secret
edit2: according to court of account which is a state department. In 2020 erdogan was spending somewhere between 10-20 million A DAY.
Mate, the sole point here is the fact that they are spouting lies
Are you telling me that the iYi which is comprised of former AKP members dont know that they need private jets to fly from one city to another during campaign rallies? They knew ofcourse
If that is the case, then why did they lie to the innocent citizen and state that "the iYi never travel with private jets"?
That was the sole purpose of the post; to identify the fact that the iYi is ready to lie through their teeth if it meant getting votes
And yes, Erdogan travels on fancy planes but at least he admits that ffs
Do you even know who Demiroren is?
why do you lecture people on stuff that you dont know
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HahahaAt least actual economy experts fight over who will deal with the economy.
Erdogan have a thousand advisors and the most competent ones to rule the economy was
1. Berat Albayrak
2. Nurettin Nebati
3. Şahap Kavcioglu
this is the latest scandal by kavcioglu. Can someone translate this for the albanian friend.
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Sure, the "experts" whom you are talking about will fix the economy by inflating the inflation
the amount of money that will be printed in the KK era may surpass Erdogan's era in the first year alone but ofcourse..... KK PROMISED to fix the economy so ofcourse he will fix it
From a basic salary of 8.5k to 21k salary as a minimum wage for nearly 50% of the population which means more than 40 million citizens will get at around 14k liras more every month.....pls do the math and tell me how will it affect the inflation Turkey currently faces
KK is a clown man admit it.... from his economic policies to his plan to kick the refugees out, everything he plans is just outright stupid and falls out from the borders of common sense
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İçişleri Bakanı Soylu'dan 'ses kaydı var' sözlerine açıklama
İçişleri Bakanı Süleyman Soylu, (CHP'li bir ismin AB Büyükelçisiyle görüşmesine ilişkin ses kaydı iddiası) Bu seçimin içinde olacaklar, bu seçim sonrası yaşanacaklar, adaylıklar ve bu seçimin içerisindeki tüm modellemelerin tamamı orada konuşuluyor. Bu Avrupa Birliği ülkelerinden birisinin...
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People who vote for opposition couldn't care less about any of that. Turkey has been in top 10 of inflation rate worldwide for the past 6 years, hosts the biggest refugee population in the whole world, but still has a lax border policy, there's huge brain drain, amount of interest on debt paid is the highest in the republic's history, net reserves of the central bank are lowest of the republic's history, the added value and industrial production as percentage of gdp hasn't grown in 12 years and is the lowest of OECD nations; math, reading, science skills in PISA rankings is in bottom 5 and getting worse year by year, avergae IQ is dropping due to horrible education system, malnutrition due to inflation and brain drain, freedom of speech, media, independence of judiciary, independence of technical arms of the government like statistics bureau, etc. all have been going downhill, university ranking, scientific publication per capita are all going downhill. This is a horribly managed country, and the ruling party is not talking about any of these problems, not offering any solutions to these problems, not even acknowledging them. In their campaign all they talk about is HDP, LGBT, and shit like this. This is just a comedy show at this point.
Hey... erdogan has been increasing the minimum wage by 60-70 percent with a yearly inflation of more than 100%.
If he can do it kilicdar might pull it off aswell.
erdogans private jet fleet is around 9 jets.
the biggest one is 500-600 million dollars.
He has 3-4 palaces the biggest one has 1100 rooms + he uses old ottoman palaces and university buildings as his own offices around istanbul. His convoys generally consist of 60-70 luxury vehicles plus police and ambulances. His security follows him everwhere and it consist of 4000 people.
this is what they mean when they say we wont use jets. We wont spend the money of people like he does.
at the same time, erdogan calls himself “this poor man” in his rallies.
Ryder
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Lol look at this. Of course he will go with private jet. At least they pay themselves. They go city to city every day turkey is not albania. You cannot do 2 meetings in different places for weeks nonstop without planes.
Once again you are blinded by akp twitter media propaganda. At the same time all those akp ministers that run for PM elections use state owned jets for their campaigns.
and erdogan uses this:
Qatar's emir 'gives $500m private jet to Turkey' - BBC News
Turkey's president says the Boeing 747-8i was a "present" from the gas-rich Gulf state.
edit: nobody believe katar sheikh gifted it btw. He probably bought it from the presidency budget which is secret
edit2: according to court of account which is a state department. In 2020 erdogan was spending somewhere between 10-20 million A DAY.
Turkiye defended Qatar and Qatar gifted Turkiye with a private Jet.
I guess in your world Turkiye is a vassal to Qatar.
Dont make me laugh.
Ryder
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Qatar asked for soldiers even police for the world cup only thing opposition crowd did was bitch and whine.
To the point where they called their own soldiers and police as Mercernaries to Qatar.
When the world cups security was a global task force.
Then again I wonder how many even know that Turkiye has a military base in Qatar.
Foothold in the Arabian Pensinula and the Gulf.
To the point where they called their own soldiers and police as Mercernaries to Qatar.
When the world cups security was a global task force.
Then again I wonder how many even know that Turkiye has a military base in Qatar.
Foothold in the Arabian Pensinula and the Gulf.
You cannot sum up the situation better than this.
And Im gonna stop arguing anything on this forum and this is my last post on this topic. Because i see enoug akpians on the street, im not mentaly ok with seeing some austalian, albanian, german akpians on the internet.
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There's no conspiracy here. The amount of credit Demirören has taken from Ziraat bank and the fact that he has paid only 3% is well documented and reported on by multiple journalists who haven't been taken to any courts for spreading conspiracies. Demirören's tax evasion and movement of his money to Virgin Islands was documented in Pandora papers. The opposition has openly talked about how they are going to take his properties.
Then all of a sudden Baykar buys one of the biggest properties they have. Baykar has been talking about how they will move production to earthquake hit regions and inner Anatolia; so in the whole wide Turkey, just 10 days before election only property they can find is Demirören's property in Istanbul.
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