Turkey’s opposition has picked its man
But some of them are not happy about it
IT TOOK THEM long enough. On March 6th, with fewer than 70 days left before the expected date of Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections, a group of six opposition party leaders, known collectively as the Nation Alliance or the Table of Six, unveiled Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), as their presidential candidate. The atmosphere outside the Ankara headquarters of the Felicity Party, where the meeting took place, was hardly electric. As Mr Kilicdaroglu spoke, his political allies looked on with stony faces. Meral Aksener, the head of the Iyi (“Good”) party, the second-biggest group in the alliance, looked as if she had swallowed a bar of soap.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Turning the tables ”
Europe March 11th 2023
- Ukraine is building up its forces for an offensive
- France is in a stand-off against Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform
- Turkey’s opposition has picked its man
- Ukraine’s most committed backer wins a huge election victory in Estonia
- Russia’s population nightmare is going to get even worse
- Germany is letting a domestic squabble pollute Europe’s green ambitions
More from Europe
Meet Europe’s Gaullists, Atlanticists, denialists and Putinists
As Donald Trump returns, so do Europe’s old schisms over how to defend itself
Inside Europe, border checks are creeping back
Voters and politicians are worried about unauthorised migrants
The EU is worried about sensitive exports to competitors and foes
A lot of bureaucracy will ensue
A day of drama in the Bundestag
Friedrich Merz, Germany’s probable next chancellor, takes a huge bet and triggers uproar
Amid talk of a ceasefire, Ukraine’s front line is crumbling
An ominous defeat in the eastern town of Velyka Novosilka
The French government’s survival is now in Socialist hands
Moderates attempt to move away from the radicals