Turkey’s Opposition Leader Looks to Emerge from Erdogan’s Shadow

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) speaks during an interview with Reuters in Ankara, Turkey February 18, 2022. Picture taken February 18, 2022. (Reuters)
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) speaks during an interview with Reuters in Ankara, Turkey February 18, 2022. Picture taken February 18, 2022. (Reuters)
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Turkey’s Opposition Leader Looks to Emerge from Erdogan’s Shadow

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) speaks during an interview with Reuters in Ankara, Turkey February 18, 2022. Picture taken February 18, 2022. (Reuters)
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) speaks during an interview with Reuters in Ankara, Turkey February 18, 2022. Picture taken February 18, 2022. (Reuters)

A veteran Turkish political leader who has struggled for years to have President Tayyip Erdogan voted out of office says it is "very clear" that his dream is drawing nearer, even as doubts remain about whether he will be the main opposition candidate at presidential elections set for 2023.

In an interview, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), confidently predicted victory at the polls as Turkey suffers economic hardships brought on by Erdogan's unorthodox monetary policies.

The comments reinforce expectations Kilicdaroglu, 73, will be the presidential candidate of a six-party alliance in elections due by June 2023, though polls show several other opposition figures winning more support.

"Of course, five party leaders pronouncing me as candidate would be an honor. It also means they have trust," he told Reuters in his office on the 12th floor of the CHP's headquarters on the outskirts of Ankara.

The six anti-Erdogan party leaders would discuss their candidate later, but first need to agree on economic, social and other policies for their joint platform. It is "very obvious and very clear" that whoever they choose will become president, he said.

Kilicdaroglu said he saw no reason for Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missiles that caused a rift with Washington. He also said he would overhaul the central bank's leadership if elected.

A former economist and civil servant who lacks the president's fiery charisma, Kilicdaroglu has lingered in Erdogan's shadow as the CHP, which he has chaired since 2010, suffered repeated defeats. Erdogan's favorite target, he has stoically absorbed near daily criticism and even scorn from the man who has dominated the country for nearly two decades.

Yet Kilicdaroglu and other critics of the country's authoritarian and Islamist drift sense their time may have come.

Erdogan's polls have slid to multi-year lows after his unorthodox interest rate cuts sparked a currency crisis late last year, which in turn sent living costs soaring and deepened poverty especially among the president's working class base.

The opposition bloc includes nationalists, liberals and conservatives - though not parliament's third-biggest party, the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party.

Can Selcuki of Istanbul-based pollster Turkiye Raporu said Kilicdaroglu has grown "bolder and more aggressive", showing his determination to be the bloc's candidate. But he remains the "weakest nominee" of the opposition hopefuls and unless his support grows, Selcuki predicted he could still pull out before the vote.

Bespectacled and low-key, Kilicdaroglu earned the nickname "Gandhi Kemal" for his style, and for strategies such as his vow this month not to pay electricity bills in protest at price hikes in the face of near 50% inflation.

CHP parliamentarian Utku Cakirozer said Kilicdaroglu's ability to build alliances was key to broadening the opposition platform. "He is open to building bridges with different parts of society," he said.

Though the opposition bloc has not named a presidential candidate, surveys by Metropoll show Kilicdaroglu is far less popular, at 28.5%, than three other possible names and than Erdogan himself, who 37.9% said they preferred in December.

Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, both of the CHP, had popularity of 60.4% and 50.7% respectively, while IYI Party leader and alliance bloc member Meral Aksener had 38.5%. A previous Metropoll survey showed Kilicdaroglu was the only potential candidate whom Erdogan would beat.

"These surveys are of no importance for today," Kilicdaroglu said, adding that Yavas and Imamoglu would continue running the country's two biggest cities.

Soaring prices recently - including 50% increases for electricity and 55% for food - have pushed more Turks into poverty.

The central bank is widely seen to have bowed to Erdogan after he replaced its monetary policy committee with like-minded members. Asked whether he would replace the committee to give it independence, Kilicdaroglu said: "We would do exactly that."

Russian S-400s, Syria

Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 land-to-air defenses badly strained US relations, prompting Washington to sanction Turkey's defense industries and oust it from an F-35 production scheme.

"Who will we use the S-400s for? We haven't received the answer to this question yet," Kilicdaroglu said. "A large amount of money was paid, and they are currently waiting in storage."

Erdogan has said Turkey is keeping the missiles despite US objections and the possibility of selling them.

Turkey will send home the millions of Syrian refugees it hosts and re-establish diplomatic ties with President Bashar al-Assad if the opposition alliance wins the elections, Kilicdaroglu said.

"If needed the United Nations needs to get involved, a 100% guarantee should be received from Assad. That guarantee needs to be tied to international accords, that he will not attack them, that their material and life security will be preserved," he said.



Death Toll from US Winter Storms Grows to 14

HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
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Death Toll from US Winter Storms Grows to 14

HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
HYDEN, KENTUCKY - FEBRUARY 17: A flooded road that leads to a neighborhood is seen on February 17, 2025 in Hyden, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The death toll from powerful winter storms in the central and eastern United States has risen to at least 14, officials said Monday, after floods, gale-force winds and bitterly cold temperatures swept the region.

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Monday of a winter storm system carrying arctic air that would cause "record cold," with wind chill expected to hit as low as -60 degrees Fahrenheit (-51 degrees Celsius) in Montana and North Dakota.

"I've got more tough news. The death toll in Kentucky has now risen to 12," said Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear in a social media post on Monday, raising the toll from eight a day earlier.

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey said on Monday his state had also seen at least one death from the weather, AFP reported.

"We have one confirmed fatality at this time," he told a press briefing, warning that further flooding was expected. "There are still several people who are missing."

In addition, one person died in the southern city of Atlanta, Georgia. The victim was killed when an "extremely large" tree fell on his house early Sunday, fire official Scott Powell told local media.

Most of the dead in Kentucky, Beshear said in an earlier news conference, drowned when trapped in their vehicles by fast-rising floodwaters. The victims included a mother and her child.

The governor urged people to stay off roads across the state, where local and federal authorities have declared a state of emergency.

Beshear said more than 1,000 people had been rescued by first responders within 24 hours.

In its Monday advisory, the NWS warned that the cold weather system would impact a vast area, sending temperatures tumbling in the central plains, the eastern seaboard and as far south as the Gulf coast.

"A bitter cold arctic airmass is expected to continue impacting the north-central US while also spreading further south and east over the next few days," the advisory said.

Power to thousands of homes had been restored by Monday, but more than 50,000 customers remained without electricity in the states of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, according to monitoring website poweroutage.us.