GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
Turkey’s Next Round of Elections Are Looking Down a Familiar Path
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Dec 12, 2018 | 15:31 GMT

Supporters cheer for Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek, a member of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, on April 5, 2014. The opposition Republican People's Party alleged that the ruling party rigged votes to push Gokcek, the incumbent, past challenger Mansur Yavas.
(ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Highlights
- Political parties are lining up candidates ahead of local elections in March, but the results likely will surprise no one, even as Turkey falls more deeply into economic crisis.
- Nomination squabbles and a focus on the spoils of local electoral victory will keep opposition parties distracted from articulating clear messages that could seriously challenge the ruling Justice and Development Party.
- Turkey is not a functioning democracy and the ruling party will do what it can to hold on to power.
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