Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says he will not run again if he wins next year’s elections. At a performance in the northern Turkish city of Samsun over the weekend, the 68-year-old announced that he would ask for the nation’s support one “last time” in 2023. After that, he will be handed over to younger politicians. With his conservative Islamic party, the AKP, Erdoğan is running in the parliamentary and presidential elections, which are scheduled to take place in June at the latest.
In view of more than 80 percent inflation, however, the President is under considerable pressure. According to a survey in November, neither a coalition of six opposition parties nor the AKP with its partner, the ultra-nationalist party MHP, currently have an absolute majority. Even a victory for Erdoğan in the presidential election that is taking place at the same time is anything but certain. The six opposition parties, including the center-left CHP, have joined forces with the intention of replacing Erdoğan. The alliance has not yet announced a presidential candidate.
Erdoğan has been in power for almost 20 years – first as prime minister and since 2014 as president. Five years ago, the parliamentary system was replaced by a presidential system in a referendum – since then the president has had significantly more powers.
At an event with young people, which also took place in Samsun, Erdoğan also made wild threats against the Greek government. In the territorial dispute over several islands in the Aegean, he indirectly threatened the neighboring country with rocket attacks. If Greece does not keep quiet about the islands, “then a country like Turkey will of course not stand by and do something,” says the President. In Athens, the politicians are nervous because of the rocket developed by Turkey Tayfun you could also meet Greek capital. “You mention Tayfun and the Greeks get nervous,” Erdoğan said. According to reports from the state broadcaster TRT, the range of the ballistic missile developed by the arms manufacturer Roketsan is at least 300 kilometers. The missile was successfully tested on the Black Sea in October.
Turkey is challenging Greek sovereignty over numerous inhabited and uninhabited Greek islands in the eastern Mediterranean and is demanding the withdrawal of all Greek troops from those islands. The situation between the two NATO partners in the Aegean is extremely tense at the moment. Erdogan had repeatedly threatened Greece in the past few weeks with the sentence: “We could suddenly come one night.”