In Turkey, where pre-election voting surveys and polls are notoriously unreliable, there is no fool proof way of predicting the result.<\/p>\n
With the presidential and parliamentary elections just ten days away, President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan, who has stood largely unchallenged until today, may still manage to win.<\/p>\n
There may not be reliable indicators for the possible outcome, but one thing is for certain. \u00a0Try as he might, Mr. Erdo\u011fan will not be able to undo what has been done during the past couple of weeks.<\/p>\n
The opposition\u2019s upbeat and cleverly-conducted campaign has already transformed Turkey\u2019s political landscape.<\/p>\n
Muharrem Ince, the candidate of the main opposition Republican People\u2019s Party has emerged as a powerful orator and a credible, strong contender.<\/p>\n
Other challengers for presidency, Selahattin Demirtas, the jailed candidate of the Peoples\u2019 Democratic Party (HDP), Meral Aksener, the leader of the Good (IYI) Party and Temel Karamollao\u011flu of The Felicity Party (Saadet) have also widened the space for meaningful debate.<\/p>\n
Their campaigning activities have helped crystallize both their and the ruling party\u2019s platforms.<\/p>\n
In Turkey, for far too long, truth did not seem to matter.<\/p>\n
Independent voices all but silenced, misinformation and manipulation ran rampant.<\/p>\n
Disparaging remarks about opponents went unanswered, and those with power have become complacent.<\/p>\n
Unexpectedly, this time, the election campaign has generated real debate.<\/p>\n
No longer in a position of unchallenged supremacy, Mr. Erdogan and his party appear to be visibly wobbled. They are making one gaffe after another.<\/p>\n
From forgetting where he was to getting his dates and facts wrong, President Erdogan has been showing clear signs of fatigue.<\/p>\n
What used to pass as an awkward slip of the tongue, now attracts intense scrutiny.<\/p>\n
Under the spotlight of a hard-fought campaign, false and inaccurate statements \u00a0are challenged like never before.<\/p>\n
Moreover, unrestrained, arbitrary use of power, a domineering style of leadership, a total lack of respect for the rule of law and human rights, along with unconventional approaches to economy, started to backfire, with immediate and severe consequences.<\/p>\n
President Erdogan has been rallying his supporters with a promise of bringing back death penalty ever since the failed coup of July 2016. As it cannot be used retroactively for crimes of the past, few paid much attention to it.<\/p>\n
Yet, when he recently threatened his presidential rival Selahattin Demirtas with capital punishment during a campaign speech, it took a very sinister turn.<\/p>\n
The Justice and Development Party government has been exploiting national security concerns to increase their public support for years. \u00a0When a major military operation in northern Iraq was announced at the middle of the present election campaign, with no pretense<\/a> that it is an election ploy, it was very quickly \u00a0exposed<\/a> for what it is.<\/p>\n The International Crisis Group says<\/a> that Turkey\u2019s election campaign reinvigorated much-needed debate on the Kurdish question, showing that \u201cTurkish politicians can surmount their traditional disregard for Kurdish grievances, if only for electoral dividends<\/em>\u201d. \u00a0That is nothing to be sniffed at.<\/p>\n The lack of independence of the judiciary in Turkey has been a well-documented issue in recent years, with little or no public outcry among government supporters. Yet, \u00a0a blatantly partisan tweet by a \u00a0judge of the country\u2019s top court, criticising Mr. Erdo\u011fan\u2019s main rival during the election campaign quickly turned into a political scandal<\/a>. Even some of the ruling party members condemned<\/a> the judge in question.<\/p>\n