Turkey Elections: Elders still committed to Erdogan, but are their children?

ISTANBUL — With only hours to go until Turkey’s historic elections on Sunday, older generations and loyalists of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are having a hard time convincing the youth to support their revered candidate.

One sunny afternoon this week, two women were sitting on a bench overlooking the Bosporus in Istanbul’s Uskudar neighborhood, an Erdogan stronghold, as their conversation revolved around one of the most heated topics ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14: inflation. 

“The price of one diaper used to be half a lira, now it's 6 liras. I have to count how many diapers I put on my baby each day, and try to keep the same diaper on for longer — that’s not healthy,” Bedia told Al-Monitor. 

“This is the only way we can socialize these days," she added, as they drank tea from their flasks and ate homemade cake.