event
Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Turkey's Elections: Exploring the Political Landscape and Future Implications

Mon. May 15th, 2023
Virtual

The general elections in Türkiye on May 14 could see the defeat of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been the country’s leader for the last 20 years. Criticism has been growing over his government’s unpopular economic policies and slow response to the devastating February 6 earthquake, which struck southeastern Türkiye (and northwestern Syria) and resulted in over 50,000 fatalities. While the electoral concerns seem to be primarily domestic, there are issues on the agenda with foreign policy dimensions. One of these is the question of the Syrian refugees currently residing in Türkiye and a potential deal that Ankara might strike with Syria’s Assad regime (and Iran and Russia). The electoral campaigning is heating up and, according to polls, the leader of the main opposition party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, is currently in the lead. It is uncertain whether there will be a peaceful transition of power if Erdogan loses.

To discuss these developments in Türkiye and more, the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center is organizing a panel discussion on May 15, at 4:00 EEST. Among the participants will be Alper Coskun, Barcin Yinanc, and Selin Nasi. The discussion will be in English and moderated by Armenak Tokmajyan. Viewers may submit their questions to the panelists using the live chat feature on Facebook and YouTube. For more information, please contact Najwa Yassine at najwa.yassine@carnegie-mec.org.

Political ReformTürkiye
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Alper Coşkun

Senior Fellow, Europe Program

Alper Coşkun is a senior fellow in the Europe Program and leads the Türkiye and the World Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC.

Selin Nasi

Dr. Selin Nasi is the Ankara Policy Center’s London representative.

Armenak Tokmajyan

Nonresident ScholarMalcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

Armenak Tokmajyan is a nonresident scholar at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. His research focuses on borders and conflict, Syrian refugees, and state-society relations in Syria.

Barcin Yinanc

Foreign policy analyst at the T24 news website. With more than 30 years of journalism career, her articles on Turkey’s foreign policy and international relations are published on Turkeyanalyst, and Anka Review.