Europe | Turning the tables 

Turkey’s opposition has picked its man

But some of them are not happy about it

ANKARA, TURKIYE - JANUARY 24: Leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu speaks during his party's group meeting at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara, Turkiye on January 24, 2023. (Photo by Ercin Erturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The man to beat Erdogan?Image: Getty Images
|ISTANBUL

IT TOOK THEM long enough. On March 6th, with fewer than 70 days left before the expected date of Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections, a group of six opposition party leaders, known collectively as the Nation Alliance or the Table of Six, unveiled Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), as their presidential candidate. The atmosphere outside the Ankara headquarters of the Felicity Party, where the meeting took place, was hardly electric. As Mr Kilicdaroglu spoke, his political allies looked on with stony faces. Meral Aksener, the head of the Iyi (“Good”) party, the second-biggest group in the alliance, looked as if she had swallowed a bar of soap.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Turning the tables ”

From the March 11th 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition
A collage of Trump and on one side and Zelensky and Starmer huugging on the other. There are pieces of maps around too.

The dangerous tension in Europe’s response to Trump

By trying to stop the rift, Europe may hasten it

Illustration of Germany’s black eagle emblem with Friedrich Merz's head, his feathers are starting to get ratty and falling out

Can Friedrich Merz get Europe out of its funk?

A new Merz-mentum could reboot the Franco-German motor at the heart of the EU


Ukrainian soldiers fire with 2S22 Bohdana self-propelled howitzer on Russian positionin Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine

Can Europe keep Ukraine in the fight if America really has bailed?

Investing in Ukraine’s own weapons industry will be the best bet


The War Room newsletter: After the White House debacle, what next?

As Trump suspends military aid, what are the chokeholds on Ukraine?

The war-torn country can substitute some—but nothing like all—of the kit it gets from America

Europe vows to defend Ukraine, but prays for Trump’s support

A summit in London is stalked by the fear America will walk away