Election assessment from Şamil Tayyar: He announced Erdoğan's opponent

Former AKP deputy Şamil Tayyar, in his assessment of the upcoming elections, argued that it would not be sufficient to read President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's position in the race solely through potential opponents.

Stating that he does not find it "realistic" to explain Erdoğan's chances of winning under current conditions by comparing him to other candidates, Tayyar said, "The upcoming election will not be one where only the candidates are weighed. If that were the case, the election would be over for our President before it even began."

Tayyar, who stated that for the first time since 2014, when the President began to be elected by popular vote, "conditions have moved to the forefront of the candidates," expressed that the factors negatively affecting voter behavior have become decisive.

In his assessment, Tayyar said, "Our President's opponent is not the other candidates, but the conditions." Pointing specifically to the situation of retirees, Tayyar stated that economic dissatisfaction could be reflected at the ballot box, saying, "If the 17.1 million retirees are not happy, it makes no difference whether the opponent is Yavaş or Özel; the votes will go to the opponent."

Arguing that if a loss of trust in the government develops in society, candidate comparison will remain in the background, Tayyar noted that voters could change their preference if they fall into the sentiment of "let them go, whoever comes, comes."

For this reason, Tayyar stated that the People's Alliance must move forward by solving "all the problems that create obstacles" during the election process. He said there is a need for a new political strategy that establishes an environment of trust and enables "dreaming together again."