The upcoming elections in Turkey on May 14th will see over five million first-time voters participating, which is expected to have a significant impact on the tight race between the incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP.
Ozer Sencar, the director of Turkish polling organisation MetroPoll, reports that 78% of voters in the 18-24 age group have expressed an intention to vote, with half of young voters preferring Kilicdaroglu, while Erdogan is expected to receive about 30% of the vote in this age group.
Young people in Turkey are expressing a growing sense that meritocracy is no longer sufficient to rise up the ranks in public institutions.
Both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu have attempted to appeal to the youth vote in recent years. Erdogan is trying to appeal to the nationalistic feelings of the new generation with his campaign focused on the defence industry. Meanwhile, Kilicdaroglu has sought to appeal to young people’s sense of freedom.
On the campaign trail, the opposition presidential candidate makes heart emojis with his hands and tells young people they can criticise him as much as they want without fear.
Turkey wields significant power on the world stage, with 85 million people, and being a NATO member with strong defence ties with Russia. Turkey is also sitting over Sweden’s application to join NATO over the latter’s alleged support to the Kurdish organisations that Ankara views as terrorists.
The world, including policymakers in Delhi, would like to see a pragmatic administration take over the reins in Ankara, especially given Turkey’s hostile stance towards India and its backing of Pakistan’s claims on Kashmir. However, it remains to be seen what card the majority of Turkish voters have up their sleeves.
Post Your Comments