For Turkey's deeply-polarized electorate, the parliamentary elections next Sunday are shaping up as a referendum on the increasingly authoritarian Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who seeks to rewrite the country's constitution to consolidate power in the presidency. Read my latest for the Christian Science Monitor:
A very young supporter of President Erdogan holds a Turkish flag at a rally celebrating the 562nd anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul.
Kurdish supporters of the HDP attended a large political rally less than 5 kilometers away from yesterday's Conquest of Istanbul event. Seeking to expand beyond its traditional Kurdish base, the HDP has branded itself as the most progressive force in Turkish politics -- attracting a rainbow coalition of voters that includes Kurds, leftists, progressives, and Erdogan opponents without a party to call home.