-Turkey's Erdogan, master campaigner, faces toughest contest yet
Uncertainty, anxiety, anticipation and tension over what the results might hold for Europe's second-biggest country of 85 million people can be felt on the streets, where many Turks, including a new generation of voters, areThey have been battered by crippling inflation, a collapsing lira and a sharp decline in living standards, compounded by the devastating February earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people and left millions homeless.
"But if the election is lost, saying ‘he will not leave office’ is completely meaningless and baseless," he added.Under Turkey's voting system, a winner can be selected by gaining more than 50% of the ballots cast or, if no candidate hits that score, by winning a runoff, which is a likely scenario with polls showing Erdogan and his opponent short of a majority.
"He accumulated power under him, such a system wouldn't but create a crisis, it created a management crisis, an economic crisis and a state crisis," said Gursel. "Erdogan came to power on the back of an economic crisis and a disastrous earthquake and will leave the same way," Gursel said, referring to theAnalysts point out that historically inflation and economic crises have brought down every single Turkish government that was seen responsible for mismanaging state affairs.
The man himself, son of a sea captain, is an instinctive, charismatic politician who electrifies the campaign trail thanks to a natural bond with admiring masses across Anatolia.
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