Just two days before her election contest May 14 in Turkeyone of the four candidates, the leftist Muharrem Inje, announced that he was retiring. “The balance is disturbed again, to the detriment of Erdogan”, comments the journalistic network RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. “Most likely, Ince decided to retire due to the scandals that have come to light in recent days: from sex videos to alleged bank receipts for remittances that Ince allegedly received from Erdogan associates.

Although he himself denies it, in recent weeks it was rumored that Ince had decided to participate in the elections at the urging of Erdogan, as if “Trojan Horse” with the aim of dividing the opposition. Whatever the truth, however, Indze turned his pre-election campaign mainly against Kilicdaroglu, the main candidate of the opposition.”

The RND emphasizes that “it is difficult to predict what effect Inge’s withdrawal will have on the election result, a candidate who initially gathered between 5% and 7%, but recently only 2-3%.” However, if the majority of his supporters side with Kilicdaroglu, this could tip the balance. Moreover, according to recent opinion polls, Erdogan gathers only 43.7%, while Kilicdaroglu 49.3%, i.e. just below the threshold for an absolute majority. Thus, Inge’s withdrawal increases the chances to decide the elections already next Sunday”.