On May 28, voters in Turkey returned to the polls to cast the deciding vote in the second round of presidential elections, the first run-off election in the country’s history. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defeated opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and stretched his rule into a third decade. Two weeks earlier, on May 14, tens of millions of Turkish voters delivered President Erdogan’s People’s Alliance a victory in parliament, where they will continue to hold a majority, albeit with a smaller margin.
Turkey’s elections have been described as the most important elections of 2023 in recognition of Turkey’s growing influence in regional and global affairs, from Ukraine to the Mediterranean and throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Join us on Friday, June 9, for a virtual discussion with Turkey expert Dr. Sinem Adar from the Center for Applied Turkey Studies at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP). We’ll talk about the election results and what they mean domestically and for the future of Turkish foreign policy.