As Turkey prepares for its first ever popular presidential elections, two candidates have been formally announced. And both hail from a conservative, Islamist background. The main opposition Republican People's Party, known as CHP, announced on June 18 that Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu was its joint candidate with the other opposition party, the Nationalist Movement Party, known as MHP. Two weeks later, the country's ruling AK Party said nominated Recep Tayyip Erdogan to become the country's next president, as he seeks to retain power after more than a decade-long rule as prime minister. "We are proposing a name who will be accepted by everybody and who will set a model for everybody with his reputation, honesty, knowledge and experience: Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu," CHP leader Kemal Kılıcdaroglu was quoted as saying by Turkish media. Ihasanoglu, the center of what opposition parties called as the "Grand Coalition", is a Turkish academic and diplomat who was the secretary general for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (IOC), the second biggest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations, between 2005 and 2014. He was born in Cairo, Egypt and attended university there. He received his Masters degree from the Al-Azhar University and his PhD from Ankara University. He is fluent in both Arabic and English and seen as a moderate Muslim scholar who, during his post in the IOC, pushed for interfaith dialogue, anti-extremism and human rights. He was the first IOC secretary general to ever meet the Pope. The meeting took place in Vatican last December. While, Ihsanoglu seems as a well-known international figure, his nomination for the presidential candidacy came as a surprise for many Turks who hadn't heard of him before the announcement. Some from the secular circles criticized the CHP for choosing him as a candidate due to his Islamic background. "I was saddened - in fact, I felt terrified and angry - when I saw the negative comments on social media based purely on prejudices," columnist Barcin Yinanc wrote for the Hurriyet Daily News. She pointed out that CHP voters were voicing criticism against Ihsanoglu based on his name, where he was born and his religion while, according to Yinanc, they ignored his achievements on the professional level. "They have the audacity of calling a real intellectual, academic and diplomat a "bigot," not because he has been seen behaving as a bigot, but because of the reasons I have written above," she added. In Turkey, unlike other countries with parliamentary regimes, the president is able to exercise more powers such as the power to authorize laws or return them to the parliament for reconsideration, to call public referendums and to call new parliamentary elections. The ruling party, however, attempted to change Turkey into a presidential system similar to that in the United States. However, the party was unable to do that after they came short of two seats in the parliament in the last general elections, which would have allowed them to introduce changes to the constitution without the need for the consent of other parties. On his part, toured Europe in June where he conducted rallies and addressed the Turkish diaspora in different European countries. Turkey watchers saw Erdogan's tour as part of an early campaign for his presidency bid that aimed at attracting Turkish expat votes. Erdogan's ability to appeal to the Turkish conservative voter is seen as one of the main reasons for CHP's choice. Ihsanoglu's conservative background is seen as the main factor behind the CHP's choosing him as their presidency candidate. Many argue that the CHP's strong secular background and its lack of evolvement over the years is the reason behind its inability to appeal to the conservative voter base of Erdogan's Justice and Development party. Also, Ihasnoglu's public political views are scarce, as over the years of his career he seemed distant from any involvement in the Turkish political scene. This, according to some analysts, will allow him to reach different Turkish voters regardless of their politics and away from the increasingly polarized political atmosphere. "As many columnists mention, Mr. Ihsanoglu's biggest strength comes from his distance to everyday politics. His name would make every little coffee shop owner in the heart of Anatolia comfortable," the respected political analyst Ahu Ozyurt wrote in her piece for the Hurriyet Daily news titled "Why Ekmel Bey Matters". Pro-government circles, however, saw Ihsanoglu's nomination as a "controversy". "The little-known and politically inexperienced opposition candidate's nomination would suggest that the opposition parties remain committed to an old-fashioned presidency in the face of the president's changing role within Turkey's political system," Sami Orcun Ersay, researcher at SETA Foundation Ankara, wrote in his latest piece for the Daily Sabah.
