Turkey elections: why Erdoğan and his party are suddenly vulnerable
Caner Güneş, with short black beard, nationalistic tattoos, and blue jeans, is a member of the youth wing of Turkey’s main opposition party.
He helps staff a Republican People’s Party (CHP) tent blasting music and political speeches at a ferry terminal in Kadiköy, on the Asian side of Istanbul.
“The atmosphere now has really changed,” says Mr. Güneş. “In one neighborhood, when we went out there they used to throw stones at us,” he says. “Now they shake our hands and say, ‘You have our vote.’ ”
Not every district in Turkey has seen such a dramatic change of heart. In the neighborhood in question, Güneş attributes the shift to the clumsy handling of residents whose homes were razed to make way for a top-dollar building project run by a company linked to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
But day after day, Turkey’s opposition parties brave a scalding heatwave to hand out
Unity in oppositionA mixed record'No good slogans'Unity in a box (of chocolate)
