The Battle of Kemalism in Turkish Elections.
The Turkish presidential election on Sunday may produce a clear-cut victory for incumbent President Recep Erdogan, despite the unified opposition candidacy of Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Kilicdaroglu is an old-world "Kemalist" who believes in the core principles of nationalism, secularism, and "statism." Even if Kilicdaroglu wins, western powers shouldn't expect an outright alignment of Turkish foreign policies with western demands. Erdogan has largely followed a foreign policy rooted in the ideology of the Turkish state that Ataturk founded, including in the fetishism over secularism typical of an archetypal Kemalist like Kilicdaroglu.