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Poland’s 2025 Presidential Race: A Referendum on the Government
3 December 2024
16 May 2023
President Recip Tayyip Erdoğan’s failed to win outright in Türkiye’s presidential race on Sunday, but his lead over opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu underscored how much his blend of religious and nationalist identity politics, autocratic capture of institutions and the media combine to give him a decisive incumbent advantage.
Opinion polls before the vote showed Kılıçdaroğlu slightly ahead of Erdoğan in the final weeks of the campaign. In the end, Erdoğan won 49 per cent of the vote, while his rival got 45 per cent, forcing a run-off on 28 May.
Editor’s Pick: Turkish Presidential Race Heads To A Runoff
The result of the first round all but dashed hopes that Türkiye would pivot away from the disruptive and nationalistic foreign policy Erdoğan has pursued for two decades, first as prime minister and then as president.