A crowd gathers in the commercial centre of Sultangazi, one of Istanbul’s historically Kurdish neighbourhoods, where the Republican People’s Party (CHP) is opening a new campaign office. It comes just ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections that are seen as crucial in deciding Turkey’s future – with the party’s leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, regarded as a real threat to the current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The location is important. The CHP was established a century ago by Turkey’s secular founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, with a strong tradition of nationalism that alienated much of the country’s Kurdish minority. But Turkey’s Kurds are in the middle of a historic political realignment. An overwhelming number of residents encountered in Sultangazi say they will vote for Kilicdaroglu, as they aim to end Erdogan’s two-decade domination of the country’s politics. Kilicdaroglu is backed by a six-party opposition alliance and has the explicit endorsement of Turkey’s second-biggest opposition party, the pro-Kurdish HDP.
