Despite the earthquake disaster, Turkish President Erdogan is sticking to the date for the presidential and parliamentary elections - there had previously been speculation about a postponement. According to current polls, it is still unclear whether Erdogan will be re-elected. This was announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. "This people will, God willing and the time is near, do what is necessary on May 14," Erdogan said. In the meantime there had been speculation about a postponement of the presidential and parliamentary elections. The opposition had previously spoken out in favor of the date. Now it was the first time that the incumbent head of state commented on it. In the meantime there has also been speculation that the elections will take place later.
Elections were originally supposed to take place in June. At the end of January, Erdogan brought forward the presidential and parliamentary elections, which were actually scheduled for June 18 this year, in which he wants to stand again, to May 14. The elections are considered a test for Erdogan, who has been for 20 years is in power: he was elected prime minister in 2003 and has been president since 2014.According to a survey by the opinion research institute Aksoy at the end of February, Erdogan's governing party, the AKP, was able to grow again slightly. However, it is uncertain whether, together with the coalition partner MHP, the incumbent president will be able to win a majority in May. Until the last aftershocks, more than 45,000 people died in Turkey alone in early February when the earthquakes had a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 . More than 1.9 million were evacuated from the affected provinces, according to the government. Another 1.9 million live there in tents. Thousands of people perished in neighboring Syria. After that, Turkey was repeatedly shaken by aftershocks. According to estimates by the World Bank, the material damage in Turkey amounts to more than 34 billion US dollars (around 32 billion euros).
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- tagesschau/ Edited by the Geostrategic Studies Team
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