PARADIGM
23 Jun 2018

Elections in Turkey – views from inside and outside

Turkologists of Armenia and Turkey about elections in Turkey.

 

Parliamentary and presidential elections will be held in Turkey on 24 June . Why  has been decided to hold early elections on June 24 instead of the scheduled date November 2019? Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan notes that Erdogan wanted to hold elections under "most favorable conditions". "There were several preconditions, which did not work as Erdogan expected. It was supposed  to prevent the mobilization of opposition in case of early elections. It was also supposed  that on the background of economic growth of the previous year, it would be possible to achieve majority of votes in the elections",- explains turkologist and emphasizes that, in fact, they failed in both cases.

According to Geghamian, the opposition managed to uniquely mobilize its electorate, and the economic index fell sharply. "The national currency registered a historical minimum, which affected all citizens",- he said.

According to Gevorg Petrosyan, the situation in Turkey is relatively calm and uncertain. "The main concern of residents is whether Erdogan will win in the first round of elections. All administrative levers have been used to insure Erdogan’s victory in the first round of elections as it is clear  that in the second round he will face serious problems",- he said. And despite the fact that Erdogan is an obvious favorite, all those Kurds whom Petrosyan has met, will vote for Demirtas.

Diana Yailoyan, researcher of the analytical center "TEPAV" in Ankara, notes that  a lot of people  take part in the rallies of the presidential candidate Muharram Inge. Find details in the program  "Paradigm".