The GuardianThe Guardian

Turkish election may not bring the geopolitical shift some are hoping for

By Patrick Wintour

10 May 2023 · 4 min read

Editor's Note

The Turkish presidential elections have been closely watched for their geopolitical implications. But the candidates' foreign policies may not differ as much as it seems, argues The Guardian.

Few elections, save the US presidential contest, have been so closely watched for their geopolitical implications in modern times as the Turkish presidential elections, a testimony to the importance of Turkey globally as a hinge country between east and west, as well as one teetering between democracy and populist authoritarianism.

But the distinctions being drawn between the foreign policy of the incumbent president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and challenger, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, are less a substantial reinterpretation of the Turkish national interest, more about the style, tone and predictability in securing that interest.

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