If the rerun is clouded in the same controversy as the first vote, it will likely be the final nail in the coffin of Turkish democracy. Conversely, if Imamoglu wins again, and the vote is uncontested, it will herald a new balance of power and perhaps a new era of Turkish politics.

Will breaking Ocalan’s isolation do the trick? Not in the sense that HDP supporters will suddenly vote for the AKP’s candidate. But they could feel less compelled to vote at all, which would negatively impact the CHP.

There have also been reports that Turkey has provided additional weaponry for rebel forces, including TOW missiles that the United States (US) has to approve for release from storage. That the US would allow the insurgents to be bolstered in this way reflects its own opposition to a military campaign. However, this counter-escalation may lead to greater Iranian support for its Syrian ally.

Any discussion of Turkish human rights must mention the difficulties faced in cementing the rights of women and ethnic and sexual minorities. Femicide, violence against women and honour killings remain a stain on Turkish society and one that has traditionally been met with a lukewarm government response.

The big question in the Kurdish-majority municipalities in the south-east of Turkey was whether the candidates for the leftist Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which won the most votes in the local elections on 13 March 2019, would be acknowledged as the winners.

Both Imamoglu and Erdogan were born and raised in humble, conservative families. Aside from these shared roots and a love of football, the two have relatively little in common.

The campaign aims to establish Turkey as a leader of the Muslim world in competition with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and, to a lesser degree, Morocco. As part of the campaign, Turkey has positioned itself as a cheerleader for Muslim causes such as Jerusalem and the Rohingya at a moment that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Muslim nations are taking a step back.

In the run-up to the elections, the economy became the electorate’s most pressing issue. It speaks volumes that the economy beat out of the top spot the government’s woeful human rights record, Erdogan’s clam-tight grip on power, the country’s involvement in the war in Syria and Ankara’s struggling geopolitical stance.

The UAVs do pose a problem for the PKK, however, since they can strike as soon as they detect a camp or group of fighters. Before the use of UAVs, fighters could go into hiding because it would take some time before an F16 could make it to the mountains from the airbase in Diyarbakir.

The historical acceptance of homosexuality within Ottoman society in turn fuelled a European fetishism of Ottoman eroticism, inevitably Orientalizing the apparent perversity of Turkish society. Victorian audiences were publicly scandalized by, but loved to read, exaggerated tales of Ottoman harems and sexual promiscuity (like John Benjamin Brookes’ The Lustful Turk).