On May 14, 61 million Turks will go to the polls for the presidential and legislative elections. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in power for 20 years, will try to win a third term as president. Facing him, his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, is supported by an alliance of opposition parties. The polls give the latter a slight lead in this decisive election for the future of Turkey. The end of the campaign takes place in an extremely tense, even violent context.
With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer
Opponents insulted, defamed, compared to terrorists, targeted by stone throwing… For Kemal Can, who has been covering Turkish politics for decades, we have to go back to the 1970s to find such a violent election campaign than this with regard to the opposition. And even…
” What is striking, and unprecedented, is the fact that this violence is openly encouraged by the highest authorities of the state, that the opposition candidate is directlysigned as a target, and that these provocations are triggered by false information disseminated by the authorities. »
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who believes in his victory, even called on his supporters to stay at home during the election night, citing the possible presence of “armed elements” in the streets.
” I don’t think he is referring to the risk that in the event of a clear defeat, Erdogan refuses to concede defeat and shows recklessness to the point of provoking violence in the streets… Kilicdaroglu refers, it is more at the risk of participating in local, sporadic incidents, which could make an opposition victory contestable », Resumes Kemal Can.
The opposition hopes to win on Sunday to avoid an even more tense in-between rounds if they have to vote again on May 28.
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