TÜRKİYE ORTA ASYA HABER KKUORDİNATÖRÜ

DÜNYA TÜRK HABER / WORLD TURKISH NEWS: Canada WORLDPRESS CD SITE CANADA IFJ-INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS (EXCERPT) Discussion An expert perspective on a current event. Türkiye's Democracy Has Collapsed, But It's Not Over Yet The resurgent opposition is ready for a constitutional challenge. By Kate Johnston, Associate Researcher at the Center for a New American Security, and Gibbs McKinley, Research Associate on the Center for a New American Security Management Team. Last month's local election results in Türkiye dealt a heavy blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Almost a year after the presidential election, which secured Erdoğan another five years in power, Türkiye's opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) won resounding victories in most of the country's largest cities, including Istanbul, Türkiye's economic powerhouse. While 35 of 81 provincial centers have CHP mayors, the AKP-led People's Alliance has only 24. The CHP narrowly surpassed Erdoğan's party nationwide, winning 37.8% of the vote, while the AKP received 35.5%. The CHP's victory is a promising sign of the resilience of Turkish democracy and the electoral system. Following the CHP's disappointing results in last year's presidential elections, where it received just over 47% of the vote, its national vote share was shocking to many analysts. This was a surprising achievement, especially given that nearly 90% of Turkey's media is owned by the government or its supporters, giving the ruling party a crushing advantage in the election campaign. For years, analysts have argued that Türkiye is drifting away from democracy, leading to authoritarian politics under Erdoğan's leadership. A single election will not undo years of calculated efforts to centralize power and dismantle checks and balances on the president. Despite the uneven competition, the opposition largely prevailed. Even Erdoğan acknowledged that "regardless of the results, the winner of this election is, first and foremost, democracy." The president's statement may or may not have any real motivation behind it. However, the fact that he made these conciliatory statements on election night is surprising in itself. Erdoğan himself is not in imminent political danger. The next presidential election will not take place until 2028. However, it turns out that he has less room to maneuver than some analysts previously assumed. Erdoğan is currently constitutionally restricted from running in the 2028 elections. There is speculation that a new constitution could lift this restriction. However, the uncertainty brought on by the opposition's recent victories makes this much less likely and gives democratic forces in Türkiye more time.