Turks seem to lack excitement heading to the polls in August to elect their first head of state by public vote. The three candidates that will run in this election in less than a month are Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the ruling Justice and Development Party’s candidate; Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, joint candidate of the opposition parties, primarily the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP); and, Selahattin Demirtas, the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) candidate.
Erdogan is considered the likely winner. One reason is that the opposition failed to nominate a well-known, charismatic front-runner to stir up excitement. Ihsanoglu is still trying to build his name recognition. As the former secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) however, the CHP insiders speaking to Al-Monitor say Ihsanoglu is the best candidate to divert conservative support away from Erdogan. “The more the people know him, the more they will like him. The conservative base is reacting positively to him. There is still time to change the expected outcome of this election,” one CHP insider told Al-Monitor.
