Turkey’s main opposition party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is everything President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan isn’t.
Nicknamed “Gandhi Kemal,” the soft-spoken and calm demeanor of the leader of the People’s Republican Party (CHP) stands in sharp contrast to Erdoğan’s bombast and brashness — a style that earned the sitting president the title of reis, or chief, among his admirers.
Beyond their contrasting personalities, the two men also have radically different visions for the country.
Over his years in office, Erdoğan has centralized power in his own hands and built a personalist autocracy and encouraging a cult of personality. Kılıçdaroğlu wants to diffuse power and resuscitate Turkish democracy — a task the country’s opposition coalition officially gave him this week, naming him their presidential candidate in what many believe will be make-or-break elections in May.
But as Turkey’s Gandhi now officially gets ready to take on the chief, the question Turks are asking is, can he win?
Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images
The Middle East Institute (MEI) is an independent, non-partisan, non-for-profit, educational organization. It does not engage in advocacy and its scholars’ opinions are their own. MEI welcomes financial donations, but retains sole editorial control over its work and its publications reflect only the authors’ views. For a listing of MEI donors, please click here.