After two decades in power, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces the most serious challenge yet to his rule as he campaigns for the 2023 presidential election. Opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has not only diluted his Republican People’s Party (CHP)’s secularism and nationalism, he has also managed to unite the six main opposition parties behind his candidacy. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look at Erdogan’s opponent.
The 74-year-old Kilicdaroglu is a quiet, soft-spoken figure. An apt phrase to encapsulate his image is a slogan from François Mitterrand’s 1981 French presidential election campaign: “la force tranquille” (“a force of calm”).
