ANKARA (Realist English). In the upcoming early elections, the current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan can hardly count on the support of Kurdish voters, of whom a good third voted for him earlier, Jutarnji list believes.
“According to estimates, the group of voters, formerly loyal to the AKP and Erdoğan, is now turning away from them — because of the difficult situation in the economy: the steady devaluation of the lira, high inflation, which broke through the 50% mark, the disastrously failed reaction of the authorities to the February earthquake, which affected mainly Kurdish areas, as well as, in general, due to discontent with the rule of the Sultan and his government after the failed coup in July 2016.
In addition, there is a lot of pressure on the Kurdish community. An important role is also played by the protest of young voters who have not seen anyone but Erdoğan at the helm of the country, and therefore they want changes,” the article notes.
On April 29, the Kurdish-left alliance, which includes the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party of Turkey, called on its supporters to vote for President Erdoğan’s main opponent, opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is supported by a broad coalition. The vote of the Kurdish population, which makes up about a fifth of Turkey’s 85 million population, should be a decisive factor in the presidential race.
