Turkey Polls: Why Erdogan Didn’t Do As Badly As Was Expected

NEW DELHI: Despite being in power for two decades, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AK Party has bagged a majority in parliament, bucking anti-incumbency and defying projections by pollsters. As far as the presidential election is concerned, he came close to bagging 50 per cent of the vote, outperforming his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu. With neither going past the halfway mark, a run-off will be held on May 28. Speaking to StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale on ‘The Gist’, Cem Karadeli, Professor of International Relations at Ankara’s Ufuk Üniversitesi, explains what worked in favour of the ruling party.