Turkish people live in one of the most political nations on Earth. The country's citizens are directly interested in politics and politics directly influences Turkish society. As Western European states have institutionalized democracies, most of the African countries have no state structure due to colonialism and some countries around the world are still governed by dictatorships, most people are not interested in politics that have no direct effect on their lives. Turkey is, in this sense, an idiosyncratic country governed by a not yet wholly institutionalized democracy. Thus, politics immensely influence Turkish society. In addition, as Turkey is the heir of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish people have always been interested in world politics as a whole.
After the president announced the decision to hold an early election, Turkish citizens began to follow the political developments closely. After some proposed former President Abdullah Gül as the joint presidential candidate, the tension in politics rose again. Yet, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have already decided enter the presidential elections jointly under the People's Alliance. While the present voting rate of the AK Party is around 49 percent, the MHP holds around 10 percent. This leaves the opposition political parties with around 41 percent for the upcoming presidential elections. The voting rate for the Republican People's Party (CHP) is around 21 percent, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) holds around 9 percent, the Good Party (İP) around 8 percent, the Felicity Party (SP) around 1 percent and the other small political parties around 2 percent.
Therefore, opposition political parties aim to take the presidential elections to a second round. By nominating Gül for the joint opposition presidential candidate, they hope to win over votes from the constituency of the People's Alliance. While the CHP enabled the İP to enter the elections by transferring 15 of its members of Parliament, they expected, in turn, that the İP would not nominate a presidential candidate. Yet, Meral Akşener continues to push for her presidential candidacy, wrecking the CHP's hopes. What's more, as the HDP announced its own presidential candidate. The opposition bloc has thus failed to participate in the elections under a joint presidential candidate. While the only remaining option is the establishment of an electoral alliance between the İP and the SP, the voting rate of the İP seems to rise by taking votes from the CHP's constituency.
On the other hand, the CHP's electorate seems to be frustrated with Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's leadership. Instead of nominating their own presidential candidate, the CHP's constituency has to support a rightest presidential candidate. While Muharrem İnce emerges as Kılıçdaroğlu's main competitor for the CHP's leadership, he announced that he would rather vote for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan than support Gül.
In conclusion, the opposition bloc is heading toward the presidential elections without any hope of winning.