With only four months left before critical local elections, an increasingly beleaguered Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to shake the negative image that has become stuck to him as an uncompromising and authoritarian leader who uses heavy-handed methods against his political rivals as well as those who do not share his worldview.

On the surface, Erdogan still appears strong, self-confident and unbeatable in any election. Few dispute that he is poised to remain a key figure on Turkey’s political landscape for some time yet. But his is no longer the smooth sailing it was a number of years ago, when he appeared untouchable. Today, there are indications he may be losing his magic, especially now that his opponents span a spectrum ranging from the Gezi Park youth to members of the Islamist Gulen Movement, led by the influential religious leader Fethullah Gulen.

The National Movement Party, meanwhile, is campaigning hard against Erdogan because of his “Kurdish opening,” which nationalists oppose. They claim Erdogan is betraying the Turkish nation and are doing their utmost to add the stigma of treachery to his already tarnished image. Like religion, nationalism also runs deep in Turkey. Erdogan was playing to the nationalist gallery a mere year and a half ago, threatening to have deputies from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) expelled from parliament. Today, however, he has changed tack and is cooperating with the BDP to resolve Turkey’s Kurdish problem.

Erdogan knows that he must successfully finalize his efforts to make peace with the Kurdistan Workers Party, the group that has been waging a 30-year separatist war within Turkey. He is also aware that he has to do this in a manner that disarms his nationalist rivals in the Anatolian heartland.