Balloting in Turkey/ Kilicdaroglu tries to attract nationalist voters

2023-05-24 22:06:13, Kosova & Bota CNA

Balloting in Turkey/ Kilicdaroglu tries to attract nationalist voters

The opposition candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu

As Turkey prepares for a May 28 presidential runoff, opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu is trying to appeal to nationalist voters with anti-refugee and strong positions on security issues. This is part of Mr Kilicdaroglu's efforts to gain more support than incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey's opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu is promising to bring home millions of Syrian refugees and protect the country from terrorist threats. Mr. Kilicdaroglu's tough stance, a distancing from the focus on democracy and Turkey's economic problems, is a reaction to the success in the first round of the presidential election of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who came very close to securing victory in the first round.

"Erdogan has offered the Turkish people a position based on Turkey's identity as a strong country, with many enemies around it. At least this is his perception, and that everything else is secondary. So this is the identity that is preferred over everyday problems", says Can Selcuki, head of the Istanbul Economic Research organization.

During the campaign, President Erdogan used fake videos with strong language that purported to show Kurdish separatist leaders cheering in support of Mr Kilicdaroglu. The videos emerged as Mr Kilicdaroglu received the support of Selahattin Demirtas, the jailed former leader of the pro-Kurdish PKK party.

That support alienated some voters who favored Mr. Kilicdaroglu's CHP party.

"Mr. Kilicdaroglu's attention to the Kurdish problem, the good reception he was given in Kurdish areas, the constant support of Mr. Demirtas with tweets, influenced a part of the CHP voters to probably leave. This caused a reaction from supporters of the nationalist and patriotic wing of the CHP", says analyst Atilla Yesilada from the organization GlobalSource Partners.

Analysts believe some disgruntled supporters of Mr. Kilicdaroglu switched to hardline nationalist presidential candidate Sinan Ogan, who unexpectedly took 5 percent of the vote in the first round. Mr. Ogan is supporting President Erdogan in the runoff, but it is unclear what impact this support will have.

"Sinan Ogan has a mixed base of supporters and I'm not sure if he can move these people in any particular direction, regardless of their initial inclinations," says analyst Can Selcuki.

Mindful of Mr. Ogan's voters, Kemal Kilicdaroglu is now taking a tough stance on security, vowing never to negotiate with Kurdish separatists. But such a move could alienate key Kurdish voters. Analysts say Mr. Kilicdaroglu is taking a risk.

"Actually, Kilicdaroglu has to start all over again. He has to convince others. He also needs to convince Sinan Ogan, the nationalist voter, and, of course, he needs to keep the Kurds on his side. So this is a very delicate balance. It is not impossible, but it is much, much more difficult than the first round", says Sezin Oney from the PolitikYol portal.

But with only a few days left until the elections, Mr. Kilicdaroglu does not have much time to narrow the gap between him and President Erdogan./ VOA