TURKEY The Turkish opposition mediates to recover unity (and the Kurdish vote) after the break

Over the weekend, the leader of the right-wing nationalist movement İYİ left the “Table of Six” for the candidacy of CHP Chairman Kilicdaroglu. In his place Meral Akşener would want the mayor of Istanbul or the first citizen of Ankara. The meeting of the “table” to formalize the candidacy was postponed.

Istanbul () – This weekend in Turkey there was the first break in the so-called “Table of Six”, the opposition front that intends to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the party in power, the Justice Party and Development (AKP), in the elections of May 14, which were confirmed despite the earthquake. Indeed, the IYİ (Good) Party, a right-wing nationalist movement, rejected the probable candidacy of the CHP president, Kemal Kilicdaroglu -the official announcement is expected to arrive in the next few hours-, preferring to bet on the charisma of the mayors of the two main cities. The IYI would like a name that, in the recent past, has been able to challenge and defeat a “government” candidate, as happened in Istanbul with Ekrem İmamoğlu (in the crosshairs of justice for a process defined as “political “) or in Ankara with Mansur Yavaş.

The “Table of Six” is, or we should say was, made up of: CHP, the Republican People’s Party, the movement of the founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the main opposition movement; İYİ (Good) Party, the Deva (Democracy and Progress) Party; Gelecek (Party of the Future), Saadet Party (of Happiness); Democratic Party (PD). In recent days, polls have shown that, despite criticism after the devastating earthquake on February 6, Erdogan and the AKP – an ally of the nationalist MHP – continue to have an advantage, favored precisely by the divisions on the opposition front and the lack of a “strong” leader.

This morning, the first citizens of the capital and economic and commercial center of the country went to the İYİ headquarters in an attempt to make amends for the anti-Erdogan front, and met with the party’s president, Meral Akşener. It was a long-awaited mission and closely followed by what is now the movement of the five, which postponed for at least an hour the meeting that was initially scheduled for two this afternoon, at the end of which the official announcement of the candidate.

The İYİ leader immediately rejected the hypothesis of supporting the CHP president, focusing on one of the two mayors who, in response, immediately confirmed their loyalty to Kilicdaroglu, also to avoid further divisions in the face of public opinion. Furthermore, at least according to recent polls, both İmamoğlu and Yavaş would have excellent chances of beating the outgoing president, who has been in power for more than two decades, but an electoral race would eventually divert their attention from the direction of the two main centers. They would thus expose themselves to criticism and end up losing both the presidential race and control of their respective cities, at a time when citizens are especially sensitive to the tragedy of the earthquake.

In these hours of frantic negotiations, Akşener’s latest offer is to name the two mayors “executive vice-presidential candidates”, with ample room for maneuver and power. However, if the split of the right-wing nationalist party from the opposition front is confirmed, the door could be opened for the Kurdish vote, whose figures could be decisive for the presidential game.

Aydın Sezer, an Ankara-based political analyst, says he is not surprised by Meral Akşener’s departure from the coalition due to her previous “resistance” to working with the Kurdish faction. In the past, the party leader was Minister of the Interior [bajo el mandato de Erdogan] and was a longtime member of the far-right Nationalist Movement (MHP), a coalition partner of the AKP. In addition, some do not rule out that among the reasons for refusing to support Kilicdaroglu is the fact that he is a Kurdish Alevi.

Confirming the attention paid to the Kurdish electorate by the oppositions (which does not include the main Kurdish party, the HDP), a statement issued on March 4 by the CHP directed precisely at the minority said: “We will continue on our way,” it said. the note issued by the party, “without excluding any member of our 85 million inhabitants”.