An Underdog Challenges Erdogan
Soner Cagaptay
Wall Street Journal
June 30, 2019
The president, a former Istanbul mayor, has a rival in the current one.
Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan began his rise to the presidency as a political underdog with support from Turks who felt marginalized by the country’s secular establishment. He is now the most powerful Turkish leader in recent memory. But a new underdog is rising. On March 31, Ekrem Imamoglu won election as Istanbul mayor, beating Binali Yildirim, Mr. Erdogan’s preferred candidate, by 0.16%. At the Turkish president’s request, the Supreme Electoral Council annulled the result and called a new election, which was held last week. This time Mr. Imamoglu won decisively, 54% to 44%...
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