by With the air of victory given to him by the polls and the result of the first round of the presidential election in Turkey, President Erdogan enters the home stretch of the second round on Sunday, when the electoral campaign has definitively entered the fields of nationalism.
While Tayyip Erdogan has secured the support of ultra-nationalist Sinan Ogan (who is seen as a matchmaker), his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu has decided to claim a piece of nationalism as well. “Everyone who loves their country should go to the polls before these illegal immigrants make life miserable for our daughters. Remember this is a referendum,” Kilicdaroglu wrote on Twitter, as since last week, he has been proclaiming loud and clear that he will expel from Turkey, “in their homeland”, all the refugees and immigrants that Erdogan has rounded up.
The economy is missing
It is obvious that the two opponents of the presidential elections are ignoring Turkey’s main problem, which is economy and fairness, and are “deceiving” the nationalist rhetoric.
The latest polls predict a victory for Erdogan in Sunday’s elections. The Konda survey, conducted on May 20 and 21, places Erdogan in the lead with 52.7%, against 47.3% for Kilicdaroglu. Another poll, carried out by the Asal company (19-24 May) also showed Erdoğan as the winner with 53.4% and Kilicdaroğlu second with 46.6%. Both polls give Erdogan a higher percentage than in 2018. Both duelists (Erdogan – Kilicdaroglu) use the nationalism card to sway undecided voters ahead of the second round.
In the fields of nationalism, the battle
Following the indictment of opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu for collaborating with Kurdish militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued to accuse his opponent of working with Kurdish terrorists. And that’s because, despite disagreements which includes the pro-Kurdish HDP party, along with Kilicdaroglu’s CHP, the Kurds and their other leftist allies today reaffirmed their support for the opposition leader. Their main disagreement is that the CHP wants to continue the practice of ousting Kurdish mayors in southeastern Turkey, accused of links to the PKK, and replacing them with state-appointed overseers. This is theoretically a red line for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
The only way
However, Pervin Buldan, co-chairman of the HDP, admitted that his party had no other choice, as “Erdogan is never the only option for us, it is to get rid of him and of the power it represents”. Buldan added that they would vote on Sunday to end Erdogan’s “one-man rule”. “The strange regime created by Erdogan and his partners is the cause of the social problems that we know. What is at stake on May 28 is whether this strange regime will continue or not,” Buldan added. Mithat Sanjar, also co-chairman of the HDP, called on voters who did not vote in the first round to go to the polls in the second round to oust Erdogan.
Refugees and Immigrants
Kurdish leaders, however, criticized Kilicdaroglu’s pre-election rhetoric on the use of immigrants for political purposes, which they called inhumane, while they were also troubled by his agreement with the anti-Victory Party. immigration. In an online broadcast, the opposition candidate chatted with young people, where he received applause as well as ironic comments. His statements about the Bayraktar drones made by the son-in-law of the Turkish president caused a stir. “Let it produce, let it work, there are no obstacles. Let it produce the drone and the SİHA. Our only problem here is to create a competitive environment,” Kilicdaroglu said.
Erdogan’s attack
The last sentence particularly upset the Bayraktar family, as Erdogan again refused to appear on a teleconference with him. “You lie at night, you lie in the morning, that’s how your whole life goes. And shamelessly you call us on your TV show,” Erdogan replied and continued the attack: “Those in the opposition , they receive instructions from the terrorists who are in Mount Qandil (ss the stronghold of the PKK). As we take the direction of Allah and our people. This is our difference. Until today, this is as we have done and this is how we will continue,” Tayyip Erdogan said in his speech.
