Erdoğan’s Race to Avoid Orbán’s Fate By Inés M. Pousadela Copyright © 2026 IPS-Inter Press Service.

Erdoğan’s Race to Avoid Orbán’s Fate By Inés M. Pousadela MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Jun 15 2026 (IPS) - When Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán lost by a landslide to a unified opposition in April, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was watching. The lesson he drew was not that he should be more moderate; it was that he needed to crack down harder. He had already arrested Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)’s leading presidential contender, in March 2025. After Orbán’s defeat, he has accelerated his campaign to fracture the opposition and rewrite the rules before the next election in 2028. https://www.ipsnews.net/2026/06/erdogans-race-to-avoid-orbans-fate/?utm_source=email_marketing&utm_admin=146128&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Will_US_Opposition_to_UNs_SocioEconomic_Goals_Play_a_Decisive_Role_in_next_UN_chief_vote_Russias_LGB Copyright © 2026 IPS-Inter Press Service.