Türkiye’s Presidential Election

As Türkiye votes for president and parliament, “Table of Six” opposition leaders are focused on a deep economic crisis, sky-high inflation and the aftermath of catastrophic earthquakes that killed 50,000 people.

Türkiye’s presidential candidate Muharrem Ince -- one of four contesting Sunday’s presidential election -- pulled out of the race Thursday, potentially boosting the leading opposition candidate’s chances of beating President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

A survey by Konda, one of Türkiye’s more respected polling firms, put support for Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, candidate of the National Alliance -- or so-called Table of Six -- at 49.3 percent in the first round. Erdoğan, who has clung to power for 21 years, would receive only 43.7 percent of the votes. The poll suggests the election could go to a run-off between the two men on May 28.

The third challenger, Sinan Ogan, stood at 4.8 percent in research conducted on May 6 and 7. Konda questioned 3,480 people in 35 of Turkey’s 81 provinces. Konda said the survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percent at a 99 percent confidence level.

Nicknamed “Gandhi Kemal” by Türkiye’s media, Kılıçdaroğlu is a soft-spoken politician credited with uniting an opposition that wants to dismantle the executive presidential system installed by Erdoğan and return to a parliamentary system.