The most important election of 2023: If Turkey sacks its strongman, democrats everywhere should take heart
THE ECONOMIST SAYS Beneath the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, home to the Ottoman sultans, a monument to another imperious leader has been on display. The Anadolu, Turkey’s first domestically built aircraft-carrier, was ordered into the Bosporus last month, as the country prepared to vote in an election on May 14th that is the most important anywhere in the world this year. By showing off the warship, which is making a campaign tour of the coast, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes to fire up patriotic voters. But his charisma, grand gestures and giveaways may not be enough. The man who has ruled Turkey since 2003, in an increasingly autocratic style, could face defeat.
As we report, the election is on a knife-edge. Most polls show Mr Erdogan trailing by a small margin. Were he to lose, it would be a stunning political reversal with global consequences. The Turkish people would be more free, less fearful and—in time—more prosperous. A new government would repair battered relations with the West. (Turkey is a member of nato, but under Mr Erdogan has been a disruptive actor in the Middle East and pursued closer ties with Russia.) Most important, in an era when strongman rule is on the rise, from Hungary to India, the peaceful ejection of Mr Erdogan would show democrats everywhere that strongmen can be beaten.
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