If the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government had hoped to catch Turkey\u2019s fragmented opposition on the hop by pushing the vote forward by eighteen months, it appears to be outwitted by its opponents\u2019 greater ingenuity.<\/p>\n
Unexpectedly calling for snap presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24 instead of late 2019, President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan aimed- again- to have the upper hand.<\/p>\n
Suspecting that IYI (Good) Party -whose leader Meral Ak\u015fener earlier declared her intention to challenge Mr. Erdo\u011fan for presidency- might be excluded from the race, the main opposition Republican People\u2019s Party moved 15 of their deputies to IYI Party, enabling it to contest the June 24 election.<\/p>\n
With three opposition parties joining forces to avoid \u201ctraps placed in front of democracy<\/a>\u201d, President Erdo\u011fan\u2019s AKP stumbled into a greater trap than the one it built for others.<\/p>\n Having a taste of its own medicine, seems to have angered the ruling party.<\/p>\n President Erdo\u011fan is accusing<\/a> the CHP of \u201cpolluting the parliament\u201d.<\/p>\n Speaking at the AKP\u2019s Parliamentary Group Meeting, President Erdo\u011fan has claimed that the opposition got together in a dirty deal and they had no colour or creed. \u201cThey are trying to form an alliance whose only purpose is enmity for Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u201d, he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Hurriyet columnist, self-declared AKP supporter Abd\u00fclkadir Selvi cast his net even wider. \u201cThose lobbies that want to bring Erdo\u011fan down,\u00a0 are actively working at it\u201d, he wrote.<\/a><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know about the lobbies, but trying to unseat the President is precisely what the opposition should be doing in a democratic election.<\/p>\n They have barely two months to organise, come up with a candidate and run a campaign.<\/p>\n