DM Monitoring
ISTANBUL: Six Turkish opposition parties are stepping up collaboration in their bid to unseat Tayyip Erdogan and his AK Party at elections due by 2023, raising pressure on the president as opinion polls point to dwindling support for his ruling alliance.
Broadening the coordination which helped them deal a blow to Erdogan at 2019 local elections, the parties held a third meeting on Tuesday and plan weekly meetings to agree shared principles by year-end, those involved in the talks said. “The opposition in Turkey is trying something that has never been tried before: getting united to confront the government,” political commentator Murat Yetkin said.
Support for Erdogan’s government is ebbing amid criticism of its handling of economic woes such as high inflation and unemployment, the Covid-19 pandemic and forest fires and floods.
Opinion polls show the AK Party on around 31-33%, down from 42.6% in the 2018 parliamentary election, and its nationalist MHP ally on 8-9%, down from 11.1%, levels which would lead to Erdogan losing control of parliament at the next election. The opposition talks aim to identify shared principles, rather than agreeing a presidential candidate, participants said.
