The Greek Current

Kemal Kilicdaroglu emerges as the main candidate to take on Erdogan after a weekend of political drama

Episode Summary

Expert Alan Makovsky joins me to break down whether Kemal Kilicdaroglu - who emerged as the opposition's main candidate on Monday after a weekend of political drama - is the man to take on Turkey's President Erdogan in the upcoming elections.

Episode Notes

On Monday Turkey’s six-party opposition threw their support behind Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu as the main challenger to President Erdogan in landmark elections expected on May 14. This decision came after an intense few days that saw Meral Aksener - the leader of the second largest party in the coalition - splinter the opposition after publicly opposing Kilicdaroglu’s candidacy. The opposition bloc was reunited Monday after a last minute deal. Expert Alan Makovsky joins Thanos Davelis to break down whether Kilicdaroglu can emerge from Erdogan's shadow, and look at what the political drama of this weekend means for the opposition.

Alan Makovsky is a senior fellow for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress, and has worked on Turkey and the region in several capacities, including as a senior staff member on the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the House of Representatives and at the State Department.

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