ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces a change-loving majority in the country, but whether voters see his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, as an agent of that change remains an open question, experts say.
Asli Aydintasbas, a former journalist and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., told CNN: “After the polls, you can tell young people want a better economy and more democracy. There’s no question about that. It’s just a question of who will deliver.” .
There is a huge debate going on in this country about who will be the opposition candidate. In a way, the opposition put forward … a slightly dangerous name, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, because he is old and does not have much of a vote compared to the mayors of Ankara and Istanbul. But he’s positioned himself as a coordinator, the type that could be a candidate in the interim phase.”
Aydintaspas added that voter turnout was high and the results could continue to change in the next few hours.
John Seljuki, managing director of polling firm Istanbul Economic Research, described the election as a vote for Erdogan and a shift.
“Democracy has been reduced to the ballot box. It’s the only place where people can show their will one way or the other, so they go out and vote,” Selsuki said, adding that voters are fed up with low inflation numbers and mismanagement.
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