May 13, 2023

Turkey is holding both its presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14, and it could scarcely come at a more polarized moment for the country of 85 million.

Just three months after devastating earthquakes there killed more than 50,000 people, the country that boasts NATO's second-largest military, houses 50 American nuclear warheads, hosts 4 million refugees and has taken up a key role in Russia-Ukraine mediation is staring down an economic crisis years in the making. 

Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in the fight for his political life after two decades in power, having served as Turkey's prime minister from 2003 to 2014 and president from 2014 onward. He came to prominence as mayor of Istanbul in the 1990s, and was celebrated in the first decade of the new millennium for transforming Turkey's economy into an emerging market powerhouse. 

Read more:

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/12/turkeys-erdogan-faces-toughest-test-yet-in-landmark-election-with-high-stakes.html