Who calls Turkey’s ‘survival’ into question?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (C) takes an oath of office before lawmakers under a new system of government at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, Turkey, on Monday, July 9, 2018. (Getty Images)

One of the biggest impasses of the Turkish opposition is that it has no plans for the administration, despite its constant efforts to overthrow Erdoğan. At this rate, the opposition will not be able to put a strong candidate against Erdoğan in the 2023 elections



The 2023 election campaign in Turkey will go down in history as the longest campaign of its kind. Although the country’s transition to presidentialism ruled out early elections in practice, the opposition, with its incessant calls for an early election, manages to set the tone for political debate to some degree.

All that talk about elections and candidates fuels the "survival" debate anew. If the Turkish people will spend the next election cycle talking about survival, it will be mostly due to the opposition’s commitment to negative campaigning.

The ongoing attempt to unite the opposition rests on three elements: