Turkey’s New Opposition Leader: Deciphering Kemal Kilicdaroglu

In the run-up to parliamentary elections in 2011, the ruling AK party was leagues ahead of the opposition CHP with over 46 percent of the popular vote. The same polls suggested that the CHP was stuck at the 26 percent, only slightly above the 21 percent it took in the 2007 elections. The question, therefore, was not whether the CHP’s Kemal Kilicdaroglu could defeat Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — he cannot. It was whether he could be effective as the leader of the main opposition. He was neither charismatic nor worldly. But he had two sure vote-getters: an unassailable reputation for probity and the common touch. Be they Alevis, Armenians, or Kurds, one senses that deep inside Kilicdaroglu felt empathy for fellow 'others.' There was more to Kemal Kilicdaroglu than met the eye.