Campaigning in Turkey's pivotal elections ends, voting nears

AP , Saturday 13 May 2023

Turkish politicians held their final rallies on the last hours of campaigning before Saturday, the eve of pivotal presidential and parliamentary elections that could significantly shape the NATO member's future, before a "propaganda ban" prohibiting all news and broadcasts related to the election went into effect.

Turkey elections
A man walks past election campaign billboards of Turkish President and People s Alliance s presidential candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and CHP party leader and Nation Alliance s presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 5, 2023. AP

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is facing the toughest challenge ever in his two decades of power, spoke at three neighborhood rallies in Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city.

His main challenger is Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the pro-secular, center-left CHP (the Republican People’s Party), who is the joint candidate of six opposition parties. He held his final rally in the capital, Ankara, on Friday in the pouring rain. On Saturday, he and some of his supporters visited the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey and of the CHP.

On Friday, Erdogan dismissed speculation that he wouldn't cede power if he lost, calling the question “very ridiculous.” In an interview with more than a dozen Turkish broadcasters, Erdogan said he came to power through democracy and would act in line with the democratic process.

“If our nation decides to make such a different decision, we will do exactly what’s required by democracy and there’s nothing else to do,” he said, adding in statements on Saturday that he viewed the elections as a “celebration of democracy for our country’s future.”

The opposition’s campaign was continued by Istanbul's popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, who held final rallies in the city to call on people to vote for Kilicdaroglu.

On Friday, Kilicdaroglu asked tens of thousands gathered to hear his final speech to go vote on Sunday to “change Turkey’s destiny.” Though Kilicdaroglu and his party have lost all past presidential and parliamentary elections since he took the helm of the party in 2010, opinion polls have showed he has a slight lead over Erdogan.

Voter turnout in Turkey is traditionally strong. However, if no presidential candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be held on May 28.

Turkey will also be electing parliamentarians to its 600-seat assembly Sunday.

Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Board said it decided that votes cast for another presidential candidate, Muharrem Ince, who pulled out of the race this week would be counted as valid and that his withdrawal would not be considered until a potential second round. Analysts had predicted Ince voters would shift to Kilicdaroglu.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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