The election could be the country’s most important vote in decades. Erdogan has ruled Turkey since 2003, first as prime minister and since 2014 as president, but this year’s elections could be the toughest. The country is grappling with economic problems, runaway inflation and the aftermath of a massive earthquake that killed more than 46,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands in 11 Turkish provinces to take refuge in tents or shelters, AP reported.
Many criticize the Turkish government’s response to the quake and accuse Erdogan of failing to prepare the earthquake-prone country for a natural disaster. Experts have pointed to a lack of compliance by authorities and contractors with building codes as the main reason the quake proved so deadly.
Earlier this week, Turkey’s scattered opposition parties, including nationalists, Islamists and conservatives, fielded a single candidate to stand in the election against Erdogan. Six opposition parties have coalesced around Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the 74-year-old leader of the centre-left secular Republican People’s Party (CHP).
