Elections in Turkey: In an atmosphere of total equality, Recep Erdogan raised the tone at the end of the campaign

With opinion polls against him and the very real possibility of losing power after 20 years, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip ErdoganToday raised the tone by comparing this Sunday’s election attempted conspiracy affected in 2016, while the opposition calls for calm and refrain from provocations.

“If necessary, until the night of July 15 (2016, the date of the coup), we will defend our freedom and future, even with our lives,” the head of state urged the campaign on the social network Twitter. If the opposition wins, Türkiye will plunge into chaos.

Erdogan vowed that he would “not give up serving his country” and would not stop developing the country through investments.

Fahrettin Altun, head of communications for the presidency, influenced the idea and assured that this Sunday, the country faces a choice between independence or dependency. Western economy.

“We call it consistency or we call it chaos“, in short.

Various analysts and opposition parties have warned that Erdogan may resist ratifying the decision if faced with an electoral defeat, as his party AKP did when it lost the Istanbul mayorship in 2019.

At the time, he contested the decision He forced a rerun of an election that he lost by a wide margin.

home Minister, Sulaiman SoyluIt has already compared Sunday’s parliamentary and presidential elections to the 2016 coup attempt at the end of April.

“July 15 is a real coup attempt. May 14 is an attempted political coup,” the minister said, referring to the election date.

Polls predict that Erdogan will lose the presidential election to the candidate of the six-party opposition coalition, the Social Democratic Party’s Kemal Klisadaroglu.

The opposition candidate, for his part, chose today to maintain the optimistic message that characterized his campaign.

“Let us live together, in peace, as brothers and sisters, openlyLet’s end the fight that makes us. This is my duty, this is my promise to you,” he said at a rally in the Black Sea city of Samsun.

Kilicadaroglu urged his supporters to go to the polls without worry and assured them that steps had been taken to protect the integrity of the election.

The opposition candidate, who is already confident of victory in the first round of Sunday’s presidential election, has urged his supporters to exercise restraint in celebrating victory on the streets. Violent pro-Erdogan groups at risk of rioting.

Apart from a possible violent response, if he loses by a narrow margin, polls give Kilicadaroglu a 3- to 10-point advantage, with different analysts believing Erdogan could challenge the election.

With all that, despite the political tension, on the streets Istanbul The election atmosphere is festive.

In front of the Spice Bazaar, two groups of people wave Turkish flags and dance 20 meters apart. Some are Erdogan’s AKP supporters. Others belong to Klişataroğlu CHP.

As an example of democratic maturity, the same is happening in Kadikoil, where the polling booths of the opposition parties are separated by only a few meters.

The same silence breathes the tourists passing through the city.

Pedro, a visitor from Spain, confirms that he didn’t even think about cutting his vacation short for fear of what would happen after Sunday’s election.

“The earthquake in Turkey last February didn’t set us back, so neither will the election,” he says, indicating that he has no uneasiness.

(with information from EFE)

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