Nationalist Meral Akşener may have broken the mould by challenging Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for the presidency barely eight months after creating a new party but she faces an uphill struggle to even be the top opposition candidate.
The first woman to stand for the presidency in Turkish history, Ms. Akşener, 61, broke away from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) that dominated nationalist politics for the last half-century and in October launched her own faction — the Iyi Parti (Good Party). While the MHP and its long-standing leader Devlet Bahçeli, 70, formed an alliance with Mr. Erdoğan for the June 24 election, Ms. Akşener moved in outright opposition to the Turkish strongman.
Forms new party
The formation of the new party was seen as a tectonic shift in Turkish politics, given the importance of the nationalist electorate, with many analysts saying she has a decent chance of challenging Mr. Erdoğan. But with markedly little television airtime, Ms. Akşener faces a tough challenge to rally support especially with the other main opposition candidate, Muharrem İnce of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP), gaining momentum. And her reputation as a die-hard nationalist and her past as an Interior Minister means it is unlikely she will make inroads among the Kurdish minority who comprise around a fifth of the electorate.
If no candidate wins 50% in the first round, there will a run-off vote between the two frontrunners on July 8.
Ms. Akşener defines herself as a nationalist and committed follower of Turkey’s secular founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and also as socially conservative and a practising Muslim.
She has also been challenged on her policy towards Syrian refugees in a country which is hosting some 3.5 million people who fled the Syrian civil war.
Ms. Akşener came under fire for saying that she would have an “iftar” meal with Syrians in 2019 — but only in their homeland.
Known for her fiery rhetoric and dubbed by some foreign media as Turkey’s “iron lady”, Ms. Akşener has denied suggesting refugees be thrown out. As part of her campaign, she has promised to end a string of measures put in place by Mr. Erdoğan, such as the state of emergency imposed after the failed coup of 2016, and the block on Wikipedia. She has also pledged to scrap the presidential system due to take effect after the vote. “She portrays herself as the antidote to the ills that are plaguing Turkey today and is focusing her campaign on rectified governance, justice and accountability,” said Anthony Skinner, MENA director at risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.
No support among Kurds
Ms. Akşener’s biggest stumbling block may be winning over the Kurds, who are wary of her nationalism and have bitter memories of her 1996-97 stint as Interior Minister during the deadliest years of the Kurdish insurgency in the southeast.
During her campaign, she called for the release of the jailed Selahattin Demirtaş, the imprisoned candidate for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and its former leader. “How will Turkey account for this competitive inequality?” she said, insisting he should be free to campaign.
