Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Comparative Electoral Politics and the Quest for Representation in West Asia and North Africa, Sujata Ashwarya,Mujib Alam, Editör, Springer Nature, Singapore, ss.159-189, 2026
In May 2023, Türkiye held two rounds of elections for its presidency and the Turkish Grand National Assembly, widely considered among the most critical in the country’s recent history. These elections represented the strongest electoral challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) since 2002. The challenge emerged from the unprecedented coalition, the Nation Alliance, which brought together diverse political groups from both the right and the left. This alliance was formed in response to mounting economic difficulties, socio-political discontent, and growing democratic concerns accumulated over two decades of AKP rule. Despite these seemingly advantageous conditions, the Nation Alliance narrowly lost the presidential race by approximately 2 per cent, and the AKP-led People’s Alliance maintained a parliamentary majority. Applying the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), this chapter explores the underlying reasons for the opposition’s electoral defeat, emphasizing internal leadership conflicts, ideological fragmentation, and strategic errors, notably those involving coalition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Additionally, it highlights how Erdoğan’s coalition capitalized on media dominance, nationalist sentiments, and strategic campaign manoeuvres. The chapter concludes by analysing the implications of this defeat for future opposition strategies, particularly ahead of local elections in March 2024, suggesting that effective coalition-building in Türkiye requires stronger ideological alignment, cohesive leadership, and strategic communication capable of countering dominant governmental narratives.