2023-05-20 11:00:06
All right! Since nationalism has managed, on the evening of the first round of the general elections on May 14, to push Turkish politics to its extremes, the candidate of the opposition coalition, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, has decided to dig his furrow on the right, much more on the right, in any case, only so far, with a view to the second round of the presidential election, scheduled for May 28.
Distanced by almost five points, Sunday May 14, by the outgoing president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) launched his offensive, Wednesday 17, by rebelling, in a video, against the number of refugees settled on Turkish national territory: “We will not abandon our homeland to this mentality that has brought 10 million undocumented among us”, he shouted.
The antiphon is not new. Mr. Kiliçdaroglu has often recalled, in recent years, when addressing the subject of the economic crisis affecting Turkey, that he wanted the refugees (Syrians in particular) to leave. His tone, henceforth, is distinguished by its vehemence and by the considerable figure he advances, which more or less corresponds to that used, in their speeches, by the most ultra-nationalist parties in the country.
The candidate of the so-called “Alliance of the Nation” or “table of six” coalition, continued the next day, in an unfamiliar voice, from the rostrum of the CHP headquarters in Ankara, under a gigantic portrait of Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey: “Erdogan, aren’t you the one who sat down many times at the negotiating table with terrorist organizations? » The statement refers to the peace process (2003-2015) initiated by Ankara with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). He also refers to the systematic criticism of his opponent who accuses him of being linked to this formation banned in Turkey to obtain the support of the HDP, the pro-Kurdish left party.
Discussion with an anti-immigration formation
President Erdogan has made Kiliçdaroglu’s informal collaboration with the HDP a key campaign issue. An accusation that has paid off, according to many analysts, and cost the opposition candidate votes, especially among nationalist voters. At the podium, Thursday, the candidate therefore wanted to insist: “I have never sat at a table with terrorist organizations and I never will. »
The following day, he began talks with Ümit Özdag, the leader of a new far-right anti-immigration and anti-Kurdish formation, the Victory Party (Zafer Partisi). The latter is the ally of Sinan Ogan, the candidate who came third in the presidential election with 5.3% of the vote, presented since as the “Kingmaker” of the second round, and whose ideas are also ultra-nationalist. During a joint statement, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu re-emphasized the need for asylum seekers to return to their countries and affirmed that this problem could be resolved quickly by concluding readmission agreements with their nations of origin . The two leaders hinted that negotiations over future ministerial posts had also taken place. In case of agreement, and victory, Mr. Ogan could be offered the head of a new ministry of migrations, even the vice-presidency.
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