ANKARA, TURKIYE: Turkey’s all-powerful President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in the fight of his life against an opposition that has become united against him for tomorrow’s (Sunday) election.
According to BBC News, his main rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu appeared before a large number of his supporters on Friday, flanked by allies from across the political spectrum who have come together as never before. Erdogan is serving as the 12th and current president of Turkiye since 2014. He previously served as country’s PM from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor Istanbul from 1994 to 1998.
Opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has vowed to restore “peace and democracy” in the country. On the other hand, Recep Tayyip Erdogan – Kilicdaroglu wants voters to oust from office after 20 years – said he had kept Turkey standing tall despite so many challenges, including on the economic front with its rampant inflation and February’s catastrophic double earthquakes. Both have dominated this febrile campaign for both the presidency and parliament.
At 74, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu is often described as soft-spoken but he gave a powerful speech to an audience that believes this is their best hope so far of reclaiming power from a president who has taken it away from the parliament and increased his own dramatically. Kemal Kilicdaroglu told supporters in the pouring rain he was ready to become president.
According to reports, Mr Kilicdaroglu is slightly ahead in the opinion polls and his supporters have dared to dream he might win the election outright on Sunday, with more than 50% of the vote, rather than facing a run-off two weeks later (May 28).
Mr Kilicdaroglu’s party is secular to the core, but he has worked hard to reach out to women who wear headscarf. The six parties have rallied under the slogan Haydi (Come on!) and a campaign song of the same name. Tensions are running high ahead of the vote that he wore a bullet-proof vest on stage in Ankara and at another event earlier on.
One of the four candidates for the president office, Muharrem Ince, pulled out on Thursday, complaining he had been targeted on social media with deepfake sex videos that had “manipulated the electorate”.
As the main opposition challenger blamed Russia, the Kremlin denied having anything to do with the videos or interfere in the election. Erdogan, who has good ties with Vladimir Putin, warned his rival: “If you attack Putin, I will not be ok with that.”
President Erdogan was addressing party loyalists in Istanbul, but the night before, he was just outside the capital in a city of half a million people that seemed in full support of his AK Party. Orange, blue and white party AKP flags fluttered throughout the centre of Sincan, as locals filled the streets in the hope of catching a glimpse of Mr Erdogan.
The supporters chanted party songs as they waited for the president to show on stage in a green jacket. One chorus rang out repeatedly Re-cep Tay-yip Er-do-gaaaan.
More than 64 million people are expected to go to polling stations at home and abroad on Sunday. To win outright, a candidate will have to secure more than half the vote. If no candidate gets at least 50% plus one vote in the first round, the presidential election will go to a second round on 28 May between the two receiving the most votes.
