In Turkey’s case, there have been many elections, but Erdogan always wins through a combination of mass arrests, media censorship, and sending his most popular opponent to prison for “insulting public officials”
You do know that Ekrem Imamoglu was not actually sent to jail, right? He was one of the vice-presidential candidates in the May 2023 election.
Your claims here also ignore the fact that before the May 2023 elections, betting markets expected Erdogan to lose. On Betfair, for example, Erdogan winning the presidential elections was trading at 30c to 35c. Saying that “of course Erdogan would win, he censors his critics and puts them in jail” is a good example of 20⁄20 hindsight. Can you imagine betting markets giving Putin a 30% chance to win a presidential election in Russia?
It’s also not true that Erdogan always wins elections in Turkey. Erdogan’s party used to have a majority of seats in the parliament, and over time their share of the vote diminished to the extent that now they don’t anymore. To remain in power, Erdogan was compelled to ally with a Turkish nationalist party that had previously been one of his political enemies, and it’s only this alliance that has a majority of seats in the parliament now. This also led to noticeable policy shifts in Erdogan’s government, most notably when it comes to their attitude towards the Kurds.
It seems to me that you’re getting your information from biased sources and your knowledge of the political situation in Turkey is only superficial.
You do know that Ekrem Imamoglu was not actually sent to jail, right? He was one of the vice-presidential candidates in the May 2023 election.
Your claims here also ignore the fact that before the May 2023 elections, betting markets expected Erdogan to lose. On Betfair, for example, Erdogan winning the presidential elections was trading at 30c to 35c. Saying that “of course Erdogan would win, he censors his critics and puts them in jail” is a good example of 20⁄20 hindsight. Can you imagine betting markets giving Putin a 30% chance to win a presidential election in Russia?
It’s also not true that Erdogan always wins elections in Turkey. Erdogan’s party used to have a majority of seats in the parliament, and over time their share of the vote diminished to the extent that now they don’t anymore. To remain in power, Erdogan was compelled to ally with a Turkish nationalist party that had previously been one of his political enemies, and it’s only this alliance that has a majority of seats in the parliament now. This also led to noticeable policy shifts in Erdogan’s government, most notably when it comes to their attitude towards the Kurds.
It seems to me that you’re getting your information from biased sources and your knowledge of the political situation in Turkey is only superficial.