Erdogan’s Main Challenger Is a Wonkish Ex-Accountant. That May Be What Turks Want.

ISTANBUL—President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing his toughest reelection challenge yet, and his main opponent is a bespectacled former accountant who is long on policy pronouncements and short on charisma.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, 73-years-old, has been a fixture in Turkish politics for nearly as long as Mr. Erdogan. Broadly respected as an elder statesman but derided for a dull public persona, he faces the task of leading a disparate six-party alliance into the June 2023 elections, in the hope of toppling Mr. Erdogan after two decades in power. The alliance has yet to choose a presidential candidate, but Mr. Kilicdaroglu is the leader of the bloc’s largest party.