ASSESSMENTS

In Turkey's Election, the Kurds Will Be the Kingmaker

May 12, 2023 | 19:40 GMT

Syrian Kurds gather in the northeastern city of Qamishli on May 10, 2023, to show their support for the Turkish opposition ahead of Turkey's election. Images of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), are seen on some demonstrators' placards and clothing.

Syrian Kurds gather in the northeastern city of Qamishli on May 10, 2023, to show their support for the Turkish opposition ahead of Turkey's election. Images of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), are seen on some demonstrators' placards and clothing.

(DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The Kurdish vote will be key in determining the outcome of Turkey's upcoming elections, which could oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and see Kurdish parties further integrate with the Turkish opposition. On May 14, Turkey will hold national elections for parliament and the presidency. While control of the legislature is also at stake, the most contentious race is for the presidency, where incumbent candidate Erodgan from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is facing off against Kemal Kilicdaroglu from Turkey's largest opposition party, the centrist Republican People's Party (CHP). Kurdish voters have been moving closer to Kilicdaroglu and the CHP-led ''Nation Alliance,'' the six-party opposition coalition trying to oust Erdogan and the AKP. Kurdish political parties have similarly begun aligning with the opposition, with the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) -- the largest Kurdish party in Turkey and the second-largest opposition party in parliament -- announcing in March that it...

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