One week before the presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey, the weather is even hotter. The incumbent president, who was nominated for one more term, turned to insults to attack his opponents. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as “drunk” before the biggest rally of his election campaign, where he hosted 1.7 million supporters in Istanbul.
Erdogan said that Kılıçdaroğlu can drink as much as he wants, but the people will not leave the country “drunk”. He then accused his rival, whom he could be alone with next Sunday, once again of working with “terrorists”. During the rally, the Turkish leader said his government had “tripled the national income, built 10.5 million new homes and provided homes for families”. Erdogan later criticized the Turkish opposition for its “hostile rhetoric on drones” and promised to “further develop the defense industry”.
On the energy issue, he reminded that the natural gas and oil reserves worth billions of dollars discovered in the Black Sea and the south of Gabar “are put at the service of the Turkish nation”. “Sultan” also stated that he has implemented the “Great Istanbul Tunnel Project”, which his government says will “be the third tunnel to cross the Marmara Sea”.
Thus, Erdogan is trying to escape criticism of the economic crisis, following Erdogan’s bankrupt monetary policy based on a series of interest rate cuts despite illegal inflation, a record 51 percent inflation that destroyed the purchasing power and welfare of Turkish citizens. . All to support exports and the Turkish manufacturing industry.
Why does Erdogan continue to cut interest rates? Turkish lira crashes
Importance of Turkish elections
There will be two very different contenders competing in the polls for the political leadership of a nation of 85 million people. In the upcoming election round, Erdogan faces an unprecedented challenge as support for his number one rival, opposition leader Kılıçdaroğlu (also known as “Turkish Gandhi” for the slim physique and humble style that marked his long political career), continues to grow. The one who leads the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the alliance of six parties that differ in everything from the nationalists to the left, from the Kurds to the Greens, but unite in different goals: defeating Erdogan, restoring the sovereignty of the Parliament (questioned by the Sultan himself), Europe and get closer to the United States and away from Russia. But above all, end an autocracy based on Islamic fundamentalism that systematically limits and suppresses human rights under Erdogan’s 20-year leadership.
It is therefore one of the most important choices of 2023, because it will have profound consequences for the security of Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and more generally for the strategic balances on the chessboard of the enlarged Mediterranean. It also directly affects Italy.
Polls conducted on 14 May predict record turnout in the polls, which could lead to the end of the “Sultan”‘s twenty-year government. Provinces in Turkey’s southern and northern Syria affected by the earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people and displaced more than 5.9 million three months ago will not vote. And right in the southern part of the country are the strongholds of Erdogan and AKP.
Ahmet Yener, Chairman of the Supreme Election Board (YSK), has already announced that at least one million voters will not be able to vote in the earthquake-affected regions because they were displaced. But if Kılıçdaroğlu does indeed win the election, some analysts believe that Erdogan may not hand over power to him easily.
How does voting work?
Turkish voters are called to the polls every five years. Presidential candidates can be nominated by parties that passed the 5% electoral threshold in the last parliamentary election, or by parties that collected at least 100,000 signatures to support their candidacy. The candidate who receives more than 50% of the votes in the first round is elected president, and if this does not happen, a second round is held between the two candidates who receive more preference.
Parliamentary elections are held at the same time as the presidential elections. Turkey follows the proportional representation system in the parliament, where the number of seats a party wins in the 600-seat parliament is directly proportional to the votes it receives.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
