ISTANBUL, Mar 7 Opposition Turkish presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu may win thanks to the opportunity to get the votes of supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP), said Turkish political scientist, former Turkish trade representative in Russia Aydin Sezer.
The co-chair of the opposition HDP, Mithat Sanjar, said earlier that he does not exclude the refusal to nominate a candidate from the party for the presidency and support the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Kilicdaroglu if a consensus is reached. At the same time, the participation of the HDP in the elections is in doubt due to a lawsuit, as a result of which the activities of the party may be banned.
According to the expert, Kılıçdaroğlu emerged victorious from the crisis between six opposition parties, and this also affected the external audience. The alliance of six parties almost fell apart due to disputes between five of them and the Good Party, which demanded to consider the possibility of nominating other candidates besides Kılıçdaroğlu, but by Monday the head of the CHP was nominated as a single candidate.
“In addition, it will now be easier for him to get the votes of the Kurds, as it is expected that the leader of the Good Party, Meral Aksener, will no longer object to contacts with the HDP,” Sezer said.
According to the political scientist, Kılıçdaroğlu's chances of winning can now be estimated at 51%. He noted that as the election date approaches, political squabbles will intensify, and the situation with devastating earthquakes has affected the image of the authorities.
The opposition People's Alliance of six parties announced Kılıçdaroğlu as a single candidate on Monday following the results of the alliance's meeting. The leaders of the five Turkish opposition parties that are members of the People's Alliance, as well as the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara, will become vice-presidents if Kılıçdaroglu wins, a transition to a strengthened parliamentary form of government is planned, follows from the road map of the alliance.
Turkish Attorney General Bekir Sahin earlier called on the Constitutional Court to completely ban the HDP's activities because of its ties to the banned in Turkey and recognized as a terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
HDP Chairman Selahattin Demirtas was third in the 2014 and 2018 presidential elections with 9.7% and 8.4% of the vote, respectively. Now he is serving a prison term on charges of insulting the President of the Republic, Tayyip Erdogan, as well as on charges of terrorist propaganda.
The country's general elections are scheduled for May 14th. The current President Erdogan has already put forward his candidacy from the Republican Alliance.