In an interview with the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations website, Rahman Ghahremanpour referred to the start of the competition of presidential election candidates in Turkey on May 24. He stated: Four political alliances: \u201cThe people\u2019s Alliance,\u201d \u201cRepublican People\u2019s Party\u201d (CHP), \u201cNation Alliance,\u201d and \u201cATA Alliance,\u201d will compete in the election, and the people of that country are going to elect from among the four candidates, including \u201cRejab Tayyip Erdo\u011fan,\u201d the nominee of the People\u2019s Alliance, \u201cKemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu\u2019, the nominee of the Nation Alliance, \u201cMuharram Ince\u201d the nominee of the Homeland Party, and \u201cSinan Ogan,\u201d the candidate of the ATA Alliance.<\/p>\n
The expert on Turkey affairs, reminding that in this period, parliamentary elections will be held simultaneously with the presidential elections, continued: In the parliamentary elections, the Nation Alliance, led by Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu, will have a relatively better position compared to the previous elections. Of course, the Justice and Development Party alone will get the most votes, but it will have fewer seats than the 2018 elections.<\/p>\n
He said the votes would be counted according to the alliance due to forming a coalition in this election period. On the one hand, we see the republican partnership, in which the parties \u201cPeople\u2019s Republic,\u201d \u201cGood,\u201d \u201c(DEVA), the Democracy and Progress Party\u201d and \u201cParty of Greens and the Left Future\u201d and the \u201cFelicity Party (Saadet) are present, and on the other hand, the Justice and Development Party has formed a coalition with the National Movement Party and several other small parties.<\/p>\n
Ghahremanpour emphasized: If we consider the parties alone, the Justice and Development Party will still have the most seats in the parliament, but if we think of the coalition, the Republican alliance will gain more seats. This means that even if Erdogan wins the presidential election, he will face a parliament in which his opponents hold a majority.<\/p>\n
Saying that based on the polls so far, Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu, the candidate of the Nation Alliance, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will have a close and shoulder-to-shoulder competition in the presidential elections, he explained the foreign policy positions of the leading candidates in the presidential election competition and added: Erdogan after the coalition with the \u201cNational Movement\u201d Party has always tried to adopt a nationalist approach in the region; the topic of militarizing Turkey\u2019s foreign policy, presence in Syria and playing a role in the Mediterranean, presence in the Caucasus, Iraq, and other regions are among the procedures that we have witnessed in this period.<\/p>\n
While explaining the volume and history of bilateral relations between Iran and Turkey, the analyst of Turkey\u2019s affairs continued: Erdogan\u2019s regional policy has also caused friction with Iran and will continue to do so because Erdogan\u2019s Turkey is seeking to increase its regional role. Erdogan has usually tried not to get into tension with Iran, and for a period, he had good cooperation with Iran despite the sanctions. The practical independence of Erdogan\u2019s Turkey against the US and Europe has sometimes benefited Iran and harmed Iran in other areas. It has helped the interests of Iran; because it did not comply with the Western sanctions against Iran and caused Iran losses; because it has caused regional ambitions.<\/p>\n
Ghahremanpour pointed to the foreign and regional policy positions of the alliance of the party led by \u201cKemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu,\u201d and explained: This alliance does not have a single point of view on Iran due to the presence of six parties. For example, the People\u2019s Republic Party belongs to the Alevis of Turkey, who are closer to the Shiites. At the same time, the parties of DEVA and Future do not have many religious tendencies, and they are also Sunnis in terms of religion. The party led by Davuto\u011flu\u00a0also has directions close to traditional Islam. Therefore, theoretical unity does not prevail in this spectrum, but the average and totality of the alliance seek to reduce Turkey\u2019s regional adventures.<\/p>\n
He added: This alliance seeks to improve and strengthen Turkey\u2019s relations with the West and that the country refrains from interfering in regional conflicts and even the Ukraine case. Therefore, the Republican alliance is more likely to follow Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s famous will of \u201cPeace at home; peace abroad\u201d while Erdogan pursues regional adventurism and increases the weight and importance of Turkey in the region.<\/p>\n
Referring to the importance of the results of the presidential elections in this period for some countries in the region, especially the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ghahremanpour stated: Erdogan is known in the Republic of Azerbaijan as the leading supporter of Baku from Ankara; he also has warm personal and business relations with Ilham Aliyev. Besides, Baku did not have this support during the first Karabakh war in the early 1990s. In this situation, many in the Republic of Azerbaijan are worried about the victory of the opponents of the current Turkish government in the elections. However, it may not fundamentally change the attention and priorities of Turkey; at least temporarily, Ankara will not follow regional developments as in the past.<\/p>\n
Stating that each of those approaches brings opportunities and threats for Iran, the expert on Turkey affairs said: If the Nation Alliance wins the elections in Turkey, Turkey\u2019s regional presence will naturally decrease. This issue will have effects on Iran-Turkey relations. We will also witness developments regarding the role and company in Syria, Iraq, and the Caucasus. Another problem is that if this alliance wins the election, the relations between Iran and Turkey will be affected by that country\u2019s relations with the West.<\/p>\n
Ghahremanpour pointed out that Erdogan had adopted an independent approach to foreign policy in the past 20 years. However, the Nation Alliance does not have such an approach and may limit part of its bilateral relations with Iran under the pressure of the West. Turkey\u2019s relations with the US are experiencing one of the worst relations in the current situation and will not worsen. If Erdogan wins, the US will be forced to continue working with it, although the US and Europe are now seeking to support his rival.<\/p>\n
He continued: With the victory of Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu, relations between Turkey and the West will improve, which may have adverse effects on Iran, and they will be less resistant to Western pressures against Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An analyst of Turkey affairs, saying that the victory of each of the candidates in the upcoming Turkish elections brings opportunities and threats in the field of foreign relations, emphasized: If the Nation Alliance wins the elections in Turkey, naturally Ankara\u2019s regional ambitions will decrease, and this issue will leave its impacts on Iran-Turkey relations as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":150801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13289,17,12726],"tags":[17781,25100,16369,31601,14619,38987,38985,33035,12736,13081,17270,38986],"class_list":["post-150839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-politics","category-10-en-2","tag-akp-en","tag-caucasus","tag-erdogan","tag-iran-turkey-relations","tag-iraq-en","tag-kemal-kilicdaroglu","tag-nation-alliance","tag-rahman-ghahreman","tag--en","tag-turkey-en","tag-turkeys-foreign-policy","tag-turkish-presidential-elections"],"yoast_head":"\n