Victory, Even in Defeat: Ümit Özdağ, Sinan Oğan, and The Enduring Influence of The Turkish Far-Right
Victory, Even in Defeat: Ümit Özdağ, Sinan Oğan, and The Enduring Influence of The Turkish Far-Right

Author(s): Reuben Silverman
Subject(s): Government/Political systems, Electoral systems
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Victory; Ümit Özdağ, Sinan Oğan; influence; Turkish; far-right;
Summary/Abstract: The extreme nationalist ideology of the Turkish far-right has played a crucial role in Turkey’s politics for decades. In the 2023 elections, it proved to be decisive. This was a new development. For much of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's two decades in power, electoral success seemed to depend on the precise opposite: wooing Kurdish voters—or, at least, maintaining political conditions in which those voters would not see their interests as better served by alliance with his main opponents, the Republican People’s Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, CHP). Following Erdoğan’s 2018 reelection, however, the CHP successfully courted the main party representing Kurdish nationalism, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (Halkların Demokratik Partisi, HDP). It also gained support from those elements of the Turkish far-right that opposed Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP). Heading into the May 2023 elections, it appeared that the CHP had crafted a formidable electoral coalition.

• Details
• Contents