Turkish Social Media went abuzz recently after the infamous turkish whistleblower and mafia boss Sedat Peker released a number of videos on his Youtube channel laying further proof and evidence to his previous claims against Erdogan and the AKP. In his exiled dwelling in the United Arab Emirates, he disclosed how Erdogan is directly involved in the illicit trade in Syria, everything from weapons, to drugs to human trafficking, as well as his ties to SADAT, a private military company who has been revealed to back militias under the Al Nusra Front.

The videos sent shockwaves through Turkish society with Erdogan’s public image further tarnished, reaching in the tens of millions of views. Clearly aimed at harming Erdogan’s chances in the 2023 elections, the Turkish government attempted to censor the videos but by the time he could do anything about it it was too late. By know the news are in every corner of Turkish social media, in whatsapp, in TikTok, in Twitter and Facebook. The CHP spared no expense in capitalizing this, giving more ammunition towards their arguments that Erdogan was corrupt, authoritarian and a crook. Due to these news further allegations of money laundering schemes by AKP officials taking advantage of the construction of the Istanbul Canal, the political conciousness has shifted left.

Another noteworthy event in the runnup to the CHP primaries was the presidencial candidacy of Mansur Yavas. Previously declining to run a year prior, his surprise run was seen as a political move to keep his head low from conservative pundits up until the opportune moment. Thus the primaries would begin in earnest between Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mansur Yavas and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. All 3 remained exceptional candidates on their own. The party however and indeed the nation, needed a unifying figure to rally against Erdogan. Despite Kemal’s position as head of the CHP and strong popularity within the Kemalist old guard and the military, he could not manage to captivate the enthusiasm of the youth vote and the independents. Ekrem Imamoglu is seen as the opposite to Kılıçdaroğlu, maintaining his dark horse roots as an outsider of the CHP and a dynamic candidate willing to change things up, gaining the support of the more leftwing parts of the party, the youth and the secular elements of the party while alienating much of the old guard and not having sufficent support from the party members.

Yavas however presented himself as a steadfast middle ground between Imamoglu and Kılıçdaroğlu with his public pro secular and social democratic record gaining the support of the left elements of the party and base and being a staunch card carrying party member of the CHP gaining the support of the old guard as well. His remarkably clean record for a politician also garnered much love and support from a population reeling and sick of corruption and political racketeering. Due to his strategic decision, Erdogan found himself into a corner being unable to effectively attack Yavas and risk greater discontent by the public thus strengthening Yavas’s influence. The primaries ended on February 2023 with Yavas placed on double digit leads against both Imamoglu and Kılıçdaroğlu and Yavas was confirmed as the presidential candidate of the CHP against Erdogan. Early polling data after the results placed Yavas in a surprising 17 point lead against Erdogan. Needless to say, the AKP is panicking at the seams with only a few months left for the general election, Yavas inches closer towards victory.