No country for (old-fashioned) opposition (Eliamep policy paper)

Policy Paper on the state of the opposition after the May elections. Turkey is facing the threat of having no viable opposition anymore, but a cosmetic one that serves to legitimize the government, but doesn’t have any real chances of winning important elections. If the opposition doesn’t act united in the municipal elections, which are scheduled for March 2024, the AKP will most likely win back cities like Istanbul, Ankara, Read More …

Two Turkeys and the opposition at a crossroads, Progressive Post

Article for the Progressive Post on what the elecions in Turkey mean for the opposition: The Turkish election results mean continuity in domestic and foreign policy with a tendency to more authoritarianism at home and an eastward-looking foreign policy. For the opposition, the cards are being reshuffled and it seems that for now, the time of more liberal experiments is over. Full article: https://progressivepost.eu/two-turkeys-and-the-opposition-at-a-crossroads/

Turkey Election: President Erdogan in tight electoral race, WION

I participated in a program on Indian News Channel WION on 14 May some 6 hours before the opening of the ballot boxes. For analysts it’s easy, because „everything is still possible“, so you can’t be wrong. The trend showed a little advantage of Kilicdaroglu in the presidential elections, but with less than 50% and an advantage of the AKP led alliance in the parliamentary elections. Watch the program (8 Read More …

Quo Vadis Turkey – Ta Nea

Article for Greek daily Ta Nea on the prospects for the 14 May elections in Turkey. Published on 22 April 2023. English version: What prospects for the elections in Turkey? The election campaign in Turkey is entering its decisive phase. All 26 parties participating in the elections on 14 May have submitted their lists of candidates. The largest opposition alliance, lead by the Kemalist-social democratic CHP, has succeeded in drawing Read More …

Dersimli Kemal for President?

Eliamep policy paper on the opposition’s presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu and the position, debate and standing of Alevis in Turkey. As being both Alevi and Kurdish, Kilicdaroglu would be a first in Turkey, never had an Alevi such a high position withtin the state structure. After years of ever harsher polarization, his presidency could help to bridge divides, be they ethnic or confessional and bring the country closer to accepting Read More …

Article on the Kurdish vote in Turkey’s elections, Ta Nea

An opinion piece for the Greek daily Ta Nea, published on 4 February 2023, on the importance of the Kurdish vote in the upcoming elections in Turkey. The article is based on our Eliamep policy brief „Turkey’s Kurds: Kingmakers in the upcoming elections?“, which I wrote together with Evangelos Areteos,https://www.eliamep.gr/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Policy-paper-124-Areteos-Guzeldere-.pdf

Turkey’s Kurds: Kingmakers in the upcoming elections? (Eliamep policy paper)

Policy paper (published 26 January 2023) written together with Evangelos Areteos, about both changes in Kurdish society, especially among the younger generations and the role the Kurdish vote will play in the upcoming elections in May 2023. Read the full paper pdf of the paper: https://www.eliamep.gr/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Policy-paper-124-Areteos-Guzeldere-.pdf Introduction Turkey’s Kurdish population is undergoing profound societal changes characterized primarily by the dynamics of secularization and modernization. The younger generations of Kurds, mainly Read More …