Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spent nearly two decades at the top of Turkey’s democracy – first as prime minister, now as president. On May 14, Turkey will head to the polls in the first round of the country’s presidential elections, and it’s highly contested after the last few years. As for his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, he once won an award as Turkey’s “bureaucrat of the year.” Now, he is the face of a broad coalition, representing everyone from right to left – all with the goal of turning the page on Erdogan’s presidency. Will they succeed? 

In this episode: 

• Sandra Gathmann (@sandragathmann) Presenter, Start Here

For more: 

Why the Turkish elections are a big test for Erdoğan – Start Here

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Negin Owliaei with Sonia Bhagat and our host, Malika Bilal. Khaled Soltan fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Munera Al Dosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. 

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.

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