Irish Examiner view: Strongman Erdogan is vulnerable

Turkish general election

Erdogan has ruled Turkey as prime minister and president for 20 years. Picture: Chris J Ratcliffe/PA Wire

After dramatically falling ill on live television last week, the ‘strongman’ image of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slipped at a vital time before next week’s general election there.

Erdogan has ruled Turkey as prime minister and president for 20 years now, but is about to face his toughest ever electoral challenge, with the six-party coalition opposing him seeing this as its best chance to oust a man it says is a threat to democracy in the country.