TURKEY AFTER THE ELECTIONS

Gudrun Harrer in conversation with Cengiz Günay

TURKEY AFTER THE ELECTIONS

The Turkish president since 2014, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has stuck to the date of 14 May for parliamentary and presidential elections despite the devastating earthquake at the beginning of February. The enormous damage to buildings - despite years of levying an earthquake tax for safe housing - and the initially chaotic relief efforts for the victims have exposed serious failings on the part of the state. Millions of eligible voters are living in tent cities, makeshift dwellings or are staying with friends or relatives, often in other parts of the country. Anger over the state's failure seemed to favour challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu of the Kemalist social democratic CHP, who could also count on Kurdish votes, before the elections. The election result will be significant far beyond Turkey, for the often difficult relations between Ankara and the EU or for Turkey's role in NATO.

Cengiz Günay is Director of the Austrian Institute for International Politics (oiip) and lecturer at the Institute for Political Science, the Institute for International Development and the Institute for Oriental Studies at the University of Vienna. He is the author of the monographs; “The History of Turkey. Von den Anfängen der Moderne bis heute”, published by Böhlau UTB, and “From Islamists to Muslim Democrats?” published by VDB. His regional focus is on Turkey and the MENA region.

Gudrun Harrer, Senior Editor, Der Standard; Lecturer for Modern History and Politics of the Near and Middle East at the University of Vienna and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna

In co-operation with the Austrian Institute for International Politics (oiip)