Turkey's opposition plots fightback against Erdogan
Issued on: 17/05/2023
'Slight deficiencies'
Erdogan looked far more relaxed as he assessed his performance on late-night television on Tuesday.
The 69-year-old conceded that his Islamic-rooted party had lost a few seats in parliament and suffered from "slight deficiencies".
Provisional results showed his conservative alliance's share falling from 333 to 322 in the 600-seat parliament.
"Unfortunately, my party suffered some declines, there is a slight deficiency," Erdogan said in the interview.
"We need to make our preparations to eliminate them. We will do our internal accounting and take the necessary steps."
It was a rare admission for Turkey's longest-serving leader.
But he spoke in measured tones befitting an incumbent who is entering the second round as the overwhelming favourite.
The remaining votes went to a little-known ultra-nationalist who has much more in common with the right-wing Erdogan than the leftist Kilicdaroglu.
Erdogan said he would visit southeastern regions this weekend that were hit by a catastrophic February quake in which more than 50,000 lost their lives.
The president retained strong support in the area despite initial anger at the government's delayed search and rescue work.
Erdogan added that his team will be meeting with younger voters in Istanbul and Ankara to try and win in Turkey's two most important cities.
Imamoglu and Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas beat out Erdogan's allies in 2019 municipal polls.
'Credible and consistent'
The campaign's second stage is being accompanied by Turkish market turmoil that has seen the lira near historic lows against the dollar.
Investors are starting to price in an Erdogan victory and the long-term continuation of his unconventional economic policies.
The cost of insuring exposure to Turkey's debt is rising out of fears that the country's once-vibrant banking sector could soon experience serious difficulties.
Erdogan's decision to force Turkey's central bank to fight historically high inflation with lower interest rates has put unprecedented pressure on the lira.
The lira has been under intense pressure during Recep Tayyip Erdogan's second decade of rule
Analysts believe Erdogan tried to prop up the lira ahead of elections through indirect market interventions that drained Turkey's hard currency reserves.
His government also introduced rules that required banks to purchase more and more liras with their foreign currencies.
Some analysts warn Turkey might have to impose capital controls if Erdogan -- who has pledged to keep interest rates low as long as he remains in office -- does not reverse course.
"Our focus after the election will be whether the policy mix becomes more credible and consistent," the ratings agency Fitch said.
© 2023 AFP
Issued on: 17/05/2023
Opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu intends to run a more hard-edged campaign ahead of the second round
© BULENT KILIC / AFP
Istanbul (AFP) – Turkey's opposition tried on Wednesday to recover from a crushingly disappointing election performance and launch a new attack aimed at beating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a May 28 runoff.
Secular leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu huddled with the other five heads of his alliance on Wednesday to plot a harder-edged strategy for ending Erdogan's two-decade domination of Turkey.
Media reports said he had fired his PR team and planned to tap Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu -- a feisty figure with a history of bad blood with Erdogan -- to spearhead his campaign.
The reported promotion of Imamoglu and the mayor's lauded strategist Canan Kaftancioglu marks a reversal for Turkey's grandfatherly opposition leader.
The 74-year-old former civil servant tried to run an inclusive campaign that addressed voters in chatty clips recorded from his kitchen and ignored Erdogan's personal barbs.
That approach worked -- up to a point.
The opposition deprived Erdogan of a first-round victory for the first time and collected more votes than in any point of his rule.
But Kilicdaroglu's 44.9 percent still trailed Erdogan's 49.5 percent of the votes.
Pre-election polls showed Kilicdaroglu leading and possibly even winning outright last Sunday.
Kilicdaroglu's fightback began with a video on Tuesday in which he stared straight into the camera and slapped his desk a few times after banging his heart with his fist.
"I am here! I am here!" he shouted. "I am here!"
Istanbul (AFP) – Turkey's opposition tried on Wednesday to recover from a crushingly disappointing election performance and launch a new attack aimed at beating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a May 28 runoff.
Secular leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu huddled with the other five heads of his alliance on Wednesday to plot a harder-edged strategy for ending Erdogan's two-decade domination of Turkey.
Media reports said he had fired his PR team and planned to tap Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu -- a feisty figure with a history of bad blood with Erdogan -- to spearhead his campaign.
The reported promotion of Imamoglu and the mayor's lauded strategist Canan Kaftancioglu marks a reversal for Turkey's grandfatherly opposition leader.
The 74-year-old former civil servant tried to run an inclusive campaign that addressed voters in chatty clips recorded from his kitchen and ignored Erdogan's personal barbs.
That approach worked -- up to a point.
The opposition deprived Erdogan of a first-round victory for the first time and collected more votes than in any point of his rule.
But Kilicdaroglu's 44.9 percent still trailed Erdogan's 49.5 percent of the votes.
Pre-election polls showed Kilicdaroglu leading and possibly even winning outright last Sunday.
Kilicdaroglu's fightback began with a video on Tuesday in which he stared straight into the camera and slapped his desk a few times after banging his heart with his fist.
"I am here! I am here!" he shouted. "I am here!"
'Slight deficiencies'
Erdogan looked far more relaxed as he assessed his performance on late-night television on Tuesday.
The 69-year-old conceded that his Islamic-rooted party had lost a few seats in parliament and suffered from "slight deficiencies".
Provisional results showed his conservative alliance's share falling from 333 to 322 in the 600-seat parliament.
"Unfortunately, my party suffered some declines, there is a slight deficiency," Erdogan said in the interview.
"We need to make our preparations to eliminate them. We will do our internal accounting and take the necessary steps."
It was a rare admission for Turkey's longest-serving leader.
But he spoke in measured tones befitting an incumbent who is entering the second round as the overwhelming favourite.
The remaining votes went to a little-known ultra-nationalist who has much more in common with the right-wing Erdogan than the leftist Kilicdaroglu.
Erdogan said he would visit southeastern regions this weekend that were hit by a catastrophic February quake in which more than 50,000 lost their lives.
The president retained strong support in the area despite initial anger at the government's delayed search and rescue work.
Erdogan added that his team will be meeting with younger voters in Istanbul and Ankara to try and win in Turkey's two most important cities.
Imamoglu and Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas beat out Erdogan's allies in 2019 municipal polls.
'Credible and consistent'
The campaign's second stage is being accompanied by Turkish market turmoil that has seen the lira near historic lows against the dollar.
Investors are starting to price in an Erdogan victory and the long-term continuation of his unconventional economic policies.
The cost of insuring exposure to Turkey's debt is rising out of fears that the country's once-vibrant banking sector could soon experience serious difficulties.
Erdogan's decision to force Turkey's central bank to fight historically high inflation with lower interest rates has put unprecedented pressure on the lira.
The lira has been under intense pressure during Recep Tayyip Erdogan's second decade of rule Sylvie HUSSON, Laurence SAUBADU / AFP
Analysts believe Erdogan tried to prop up the lira ahead of elections through indirect market interventions that drained Turkey's hard currency reserves.
His government also introduced rules that required banks to purchase more and more liras with their foreign currencies.
Some analysts warn Turkey might have to impose capital controls if Erdogan -- who has pledged to keep interest rates low as long as he remains in office -- does not reverse course.
"Our focus after the election will be whether the policy mix becomes more credible and consistent," the ratings agency Fitch said.
© 2023 AFP
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan looks likely to benefit most from the votes that went to an ultranationalist candidate eliminated in the first round.
A poster in Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Monday showing the opposition candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
Credit...Sedat Suna/EPA, via Shutterstock
By Ben Hubbard, Safak Timur and Gulsin Harman
Reporting from Ankara, Turkey.
May 16, 2023
After heading into elections with high hopes, Turkey’s political opposition is struggling to fight off despair and plot a course to give their candidate a fighting chance against the incumbent, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a runoff later this month.
While Mr. Erdogan, bidding for a third five-year presidential term, failed to win a simple majority in Sunday’s election, he still led the opposition by a margin of about five percentage points. That, and a number of other indications, point to a win for the president in the second round on May 28.
Importantly, Mr. Erdogan looks likely to be the primary beneficiary of votes from supporters of an ultranationalist third candidate, Sinan Ogan, who has been eliminated despite a surprisingly strong showing over the weekend. The first-round results pointed to growing nationalist sentiment across the electorate that will probably boost the president.
All of that amounts to an uphill battle for the challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads a six-party coalition that came together with the goals of unseating Mr. Erdogan, restoring Turkish democracy, righting the economy and smoothing over frazzled relations with the West.
“Obviously, it is difficult,” said Can Selcuki, the director of the Turkey Report, which publishes polls and political analysis.
By Ben Hubbard, Safak Timur and Gulsin Harman
Reporting from Ankara, Turkey.
May 16, 2023
After heading into elections with high hopes, Turkey’s political opposition is struggling to fight off despair and plot a course to give their candidate a fighting chance against the incumbent, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a runoff later this month.
While Mr. Erdogan, bidding for a third five-year presidential term, failed to win a simple majority in Sunday’s election, he still led the opposition by a margin of about five percentage points. That, and a number of other indications, point to a win for the president in the second round on May 28.
Importantly, Mr. Erdogan looks likely to be the primary beneficiary of votes from supporters of an ultranationalist third candidate, Sinan Ogan, who has been eliminated despite a surprisingly strong showing over the weekend. The first-round results pointed to growing nationalist sentiment across the electorate that will probably boost the president.
All of that amounts to an uphill battle for the challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads a six-party coalition that came together with the goals of unseating Mr. Erdogan, restoring Turkish democracy, righting the economy and smoothing over frazzled relations with the West.
“Obviously, it is difficult,” said Can Selcuki, the director of the Turkey Report, which publishes polls and political analysis.
Sinan Ogan, an ultranationalist candidate, in Ankara this month. Despite being eliminated after Sunday’s vote, he made a surprisingly strong showing.
Credit...Burhan Ozbilici/Associated Press
Mr. Selcuki, who had predicted a stronger showing by the opposition, said that the coalition now appeared to have at least two options: find a way to increase turnout among supportive voters and adopt a more nationalist tone that might attract crossover votes.
So far, opposition leaders have publicly said very little about how they might modify their campaign before the runoff.
“I am here, I am here,” Mr. Kilicdaroglu, the opposition candidate, said in a video posted on Twitter on Monday that showed him uncharacteristically banging on a desk. “I swear I will fight to the end.”
In another post on Tuesday, he tried to rally younger voters, cautioning that a win by his opponent would lead to “a bottomless darkness.”
Still, the math does not appear to be in his favor.
Mr. Erdogan won 49.5 percent of the vote, versus 44.9 percent for Mr. Kilicdaroglu, according to the Turkish electoral authority. The third candidate, Mr. Ogan, received 5.2 percent, and his right-wing supporters seem more likely to opt for Mr. Erdogan in the runoff.
Going into the first round, most polls indicated a slight lead for Mr. Kilicdaroglu, but since the results came out, analysts have tried to explain why the opposition performed worse than expected and how it might rebound in the second round.
“It seems like they didn’t make a plan for the second round, the Plan B,” said Seren Selvin Korkmaz, executive director of IstanPol, an Istanbul-based research group. “And now the opposition will spent a couple of days to make that plan and also to clean the wreck of the disappointment of that night. This is the biggest mistake in this election.”
The six parties that backed Mr. Kilicdaroglu represent a disparate range of backgrounds and ideologies, including nationalists, staunch secularists and even Islamists who had defected from Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party.
Mr. Selcuki, who had predicted a stronger showing by the opposition, said that the coalition now appeared to have at least two options: find a way to increase turnout among supportive voters and adopt a more nationalist tone that might attract crossover votes.
So far, opposition leaders have publicly said very little about how they might modify their campaign before the runoff.
“I am here, I am here,” Mr. Kilicdaroglu, the opposition candidate, said in a video posted on Twitter on Monday that showed him uncharacteristically banging on a desk. “I swear I will fight to the end.”
In another post on Tuesday, he tried to rally younger voters, cautioning that a win by his opponent would lead to “a bottomless darkness.”
Still, the math does not appear to be in his favor.
Mr. Erdogan won 49.5 percent of the vote, versus 44.9 percent for Mr. Kilicdaroglu, according to the Turkish electoral authority. The third candidate, Mr. Ogan, received 5.2 percent, and his right-wing supporters seem more likely to opt for Mr. Erdogan in the runoff.
Going into the first round, most polls indicated a slight lead for Mr. Kilicdaroglu, but since the results came out, analysts have tried to explain why the opposition performed worse than expected and how it might rebound in the second round.
“It seems like they didn’t make a plan for the second round, the Plan B,” said Seren Selvin Korkmaz, executive director of IstanPol, an Istanbul-based research group. “And now the opposition will spent a couple of days to make that plan and also to clean the wreck of the disappointment of that night. This is the biggest mistake in this election.”
The six parties that backed Mr. Kilicdaroglu represent a disparate range of backgrounds and ideologies, including nationalists, staunch secularists and even Islamists who had defected from Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party.
ELECTION RESULTS
While their primary unifying goal was to unseat Mr. Erdogan, they tried to sell voters on a different vision for Turkey’s future. That included restoring the independence of state institutions such as the Foreign Ministry and the central bank; a return to orthodox financial policies aimed at taming painfully high inflation and enticing foreign investors; and the strengthening of civil liberties, including freedom of expression and of association, which Mr. Erdogan has limited.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won 49.5 percent of the vote versus 44.9 percent for Mr. Kilicdaroglu, according to the Turkish electoral authority.
Credit...Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times
Throughout the campaign, the opposition emphasized the breadth of its coalition, with the leaders of the six parties often appearing onstage together, sometimes with the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara, the capital, who are both supposed to be vice presidents.
Instead of unity, many voters saw potential chaos in the administration when it came time to divvy up jobs.
“And once and for all, the opposition’s campaign should get rid of this ‘picture of all the leaders together,’” Ates Ilyas Bassoy, a former campaign manager for the largest opposition party, wrote in a text message. “A leader is being selected, not a team. Only Kilicdaroglu must be onstage.”
The opposition also needed to remain upbeat and confident and make its plans clearer to voters, he said.
Mr. Erdogan mounted a campaign that linked him in voters’ minds to Turkey’s increasing military might and independence. In interviews, many pro-Erdogan voters expressed admiration for Turkey’s defense industry, particularly its drones, which have played key roles in a number of conflicts, including in Ukraine and in Ethiopia.
He also demonized the opposition, associating them with terrorism. This line of attack capitalized on the support that Mr. Kilicdaroglu has received from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party, the country’s third-largest. The government has accused that party’s officials and members of cooperation with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., which it has designated a terrorist organization.
At campaign rallies, Mr. Erdogan even showed a video that had been manipulated to make it look as if a P.K.K. leader was clapping along with one of Mr. Kilicdaroglu’s campaign songs.
Turkey has fought a long and deadly battle against Kurdish militants, and the government often accuses Kurdish politicians of cooperating with them. Many Kurdish politicians have been jailed, prosecuted or removed from office because of such allegations.
The terrorism allegation proved to be painfully effective against the opposition, said Idris Sahin, an official with DEVA, an opposition alliance party.
Mr. Erdogan’s party’s campaign “revolved around identity politics and affiliating any opposition initiative with terrorism,” he said, adding that this gave them “the psychological upper hand.”
In the runoff, he said, the opposition needed to bring out supportive voters who did not participate in the first round and attract voters who had originally voted for Mr. Ogan, the third candidate, and now needed another option.
The overall results of Sunday’s vote, including for the Turkish Parliament, amounted to a strong showing by right-wing nationalists. The Nationalist Movement Party, Mr. Erdogan’s strongest ally in Parliament, increased its share, and Mr. Ogan did much better than polls had predicted.
Those candidates emphasize Turkish identity and national security, demonize the Kurds and call for the more than three million Syrian refugees in Turkey to be sent home. All appear to have benefited from Mr. Erdogan’s warnings about terrorism.
Throughout the campaign, the opposition emphasized the breadth of its coalition, with the leaders of the six parties often appearing onstage together, sometimes with the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara, the capital, who are both supposed to be vice presidents.
Instead of unity, many voters saw potential chaos in the administration when it came time to divvy up jobs.
“And once and for all, the opposition’s campaign should get rid of this ‘picture of all the leaders together,’” Ates Ilyas Bassoy, a former campaign manager for the largest opposition party, wrote in a text message. “A leader is being selected, not a team. Only Kilicdaroglu must be onstage.”
The opposition also needed to remain upbeat and confident and make its plans clearer to voters, he said.
Mr. Erdogan mounted a campaign that linked him in voters’ minds to Turkey’s increasing military might and independence. In interviews, many pro-Erdogan voters expressed admiration for Turkey’s defense industry, particularly its drones, which have played key roles in a number of conflicts, including in Ukraine and in Ethiopia.
He also demonized the opposition, associating them with terrorism. This line of attack capitalized on the support that Mr. Kilicdaroglu has received from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party, the country’s third-largest. The government has accused that party’s officials and members of cooperation with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., which it has designated a terrorist organization.
At campaign rallies, Mr. Erdogan even showed a video that had been manipulated to make it look as if a P.K.K. leader was clapping along with one of Mr. Kilicdaroglu’s campaign songs.
Turkey has fought a long and deadly battle against Kurdish militants, and the government often accuses Kurdish politicians of cooperating with them. Many Kurdish politicians have been jailed, prosecuted or removed from office because of such allegations.
The terrorism allegation proved to be painfully effective against the opposition, said Idris Sahin, an official with DEVA, an opposition alliance party.
Mr. Erdogan’s party’s campaign “revolved around identity politics and affiliating any opposition initiative with terrorism,” he said, adding that this gave them “the psychological upper hand.”
In the runoff, he said, the opposition needed to bring out supportive voters who did not participate in the first round and attract voters who had originally voted for Mr. Ogan, the third candidate, and now needed another option.
The overall results of Sunday’s vote, including for the Turkish Parliament, amounted to a strong showing by right-wing nationalists. The Nationalist Movement Party, Mr. Erdogan’s strongest ally in Parliament, increased its share, and Mr. Ogan did much better than polls had predicted.
Those candidates emphasize Turkish identity and national security, demonize the Kurds and call for the more than three million Syrian refugees in Turkey to be sent home. All appear to have benefited from Mr. Erdogan’s warnings about terrorism.
In the runoff on May 28, Mr. Erdogan looks likely to be the primary beneficiary of votes from supporters of Mr. Ogan.
Credit...Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times
At the same time, some of the smaller parties that Mr. Kilicdaroglu brought into his coalition failed to mobilize significant numbers of voters.In his message aimed at Turkey’s younger voters on Tuesday, Mr. Kilicdaroglu returned to the state of the country’s economy, focusing on how inflation, which exceeded 80 percent last year, had eroded the value of people’s incomes.
“You don’t have money for anything. You have to do calculations for a cup of coffee,” he wrote. “Yet youth means being carefree. They didn’t allow you to have that for even a day.”
He also returned to the opposition’s central theme, the effort to remove Mr. Erdogan and reverse his tilt toward authoritarian rule.
“Those who want change in this country are more than those who don’t want it,” he wrote. “But this is clear: we are the side that needs to fight harder to get rid of such a tyrant government.”
Ben Hubbard is the Istanbul bureau chief. He has spent more than a dozen years in the Arab world, including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Yemen. He is the author of “MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman.” @NYTBen
At the same time, some of the smaller parties that Mr. Kilicdaroglu brought into his coalition failed to mobilize significant numbers of voters.In his message aimed at Turkey’s younger voters on Tuesday, Mr. Kilicdaroglu returned to the state of the country’s economy, focusing on how inflation, which exceeded 80 percent last year, had eroded the value of people’s incomes.
“You don’t have money for anything. You have to do calculations for a cup of coffee,” he wrote. “Yet youth means being carefree. They didn’t allow you to have that for even a day.”
He also returned to the opposition’s central theme, the effort to remove Mr. Erdogan and reverse his tilt toward authoritarian rule.
“Those who want change in this country are more than those who don’t want it,” he wrote. “But this is clear: we are the side that needs to fight harder to get rid of such a tyrant government.”
Ben Hubbard is the Istanbul bureau chief. He has spent more than a dozen years in the Arab world, including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Yemen. He is the author of “MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman.” @NYTBen
A version of this article appears in print on May 17, 2023, Section A, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: Facing Runoff, Turkey’s Opposition Struggles to Chart Winning Path
Turkey’s opposition denounces fairness of vote under Erdogan
By ANDREW WILKS
By ANDREW WILKS
May 8, 2023
1 of 15
A man walks past election campaign billboards of Turkish President and People's Alliance's presidential candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and CHP party leader and Nation Alliance's presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 5, 2023.
1 of 15
A man walks past election campaign billboards of Turkish President and People's Alliance's presidential candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and CHP party leader and Nation Alliance's presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 5, 2023.
(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
ISTANBUL (AP) — As Turkey heads for presidential and parliamentary elections at the weekend that are shaping up to be the strongest challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his 20 years as leader, complaints are growing about the fairness of the vote.
Turkey’s opposition has long said that the country’s elections are played out on an unequal playing field, claims often backed by international observers.
Media coverage stands out as the most obvious example of where Erdogan enjoys an advantage over his opponents, but factors such as the use of state resources while campaigning and the questionable interpretation of electoral law also feature.
Some 90% of Turkey’s media is in the hands of the government or its backers, according to Reporters Without Borders, ensuring overwhelming airtime for the president. Only a handful of opposition newspapers remain in print, most having transitioned to online-only editions.
During April, Erdogan received nearly 33 hours of airtime on the main state-run TV station, according to opposition members of the broadcasting watchdog. His presidential opponent, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, received 32 minutes.
The main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, last month launched legal action against broadcaster TRT for failing to screen its campaign video.
“Unfortunately, the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation has moved away from being an impartial and objective institution and has turned into the Tayyip Radio and Television Corporation,” CHP lawmaker Tuncay Ozkan said.
The remaining independent media also face increasing restrictions. Last month, broadcasting authority RTUK fined independent channels Fox News, Halk TV and TELE1 over news and commentary deemed a breach of regulations. Ilhan Tasci, an opposition-appointed RTUK member, said in all three cases the stations had been accused of criticizing or questioning the actions of the ruling party.
In a statement following the last presidential and general elections in 2018, observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe noted that Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) enjoyed “an undue advantage, including in excessive coverage by government-affiliated public and private media outlets.”
The government’s reach has also been extended over social media, where many opposition voices have retreated.
A “disinformation” law introduced in October allows a jail sentence of up to three years for spreading false information “with the sole aim of creating anxiety, fear or panic among the public.”
Sinan Aygul, the only journalist to be prosecuted under the new law, was handed a 10-month prison term in February. He is currently free while appealing the case.
“The real aim is to silence all dissident voices in society,” said Aygul, chair of the journalists association in Bitlis, southeastern Turkey. It is “a law that targets anyone who expresses an opinion. It targets not only individuals but also media organs,” he said.
The ill-defined law criminalizes “basic journalistic activities,” Aygul said, adding that it could be used during the elections to target groups seeking to protect ballot box security who use social media to highlight abuses.
“If there is going to be fraud in the election, all opposition channels will be silenced by using this law,” he said.
The imposition of a state of emergency over the 11 provinces hit by February’s earthquake has also raised concerns about how the polls will be conducted in the region. A U.N. report published April 11 said at least 3 million people had relocated from their homes in the quake zone, many of them heading to other parts of Turkey.
However, just 133,000 people from the earthquake region have registered to vote outside their home provinces, the head of the Supreme Election Council said last month. Ahmet Yener added that election officials were overseeing preparations, including polling stations at temporary shelters.
In 2018, a nationwide state of emergency imposed following a 2016 coup attempt was in place until shortly before the election, which the OSCE said restricted the media and freedoms of assembly and expression.
Erdogan has stepped up his public appearances, which are closely followed by most TV channels, and uses these official duties to attack his rivals. At a ceremony on the Friday of Eid al-Fitr last month to mark renovations to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, he accused the opposition of “working with terrorist groups.”
The previous evening, the leaders of four political parties allied to the AKP were present for an event to launch the delivery of Black Sea natural gas, despite none holding any government position.
Other large projects that were rolled out ahead of the vote include Turkey’s first nuclear power reactor built by Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear energy company, and several defense developments.
Critics also point to the bending of election law to allow government ministers to stand as parliamentary candidates while remaining in office, despite legal requirements to the contrary.
The election board, meanwhile, has previously faced criticism for siding with AKP objections during elections.
In the 2019 local polls, the victorious opposition mayoral candidate for Istanbul was forced to face a rerun following AKP complaints of ballot irregularities. Results from district and city council votes, which were collected in the same boxes and favored the AKP, were not questioned.
Adem Sozuer of Istanbul University’s law faculty told the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper that voters had lost confidence in the election authorities. “There is widespread suspicion in a significant part of society that elections will be rigged,” he said.
ISTANBUL (AP) — As Turkey heads for presidential and parliamentary elections at the weekend that are shaping up to be the strongest challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his 20 years as leader, complaints are growing about the fairness of the vote.
Turkey’s opposition has long said that the country’s elections are played out on an unequal playing field, claims often backed by international observers.
Media coverage stands out as the most obvious example of where Erdogan enjoys an advantage over his opponents, but factors such as the use of state resources while campaigning and the questionable interpretation of electoral law also feature.
Some 90% of Turkey’s media is in the hands of the government or its backers, according to Reporters Without Borders, ensuring overwhelming airtime for the president. Only a handful of opposition newspapers remain in print, most having transitioned to online-only editions.
During April, Erdogan received nearly 33 hours of airtime on the main state-run TV station, according to opposition members of the broadcasting watchdog. His presidential opponent, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, received 32 minutes.
The main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, last month launched legal action against broadcaster TRT for failing to screen its campaign video.
“Unfortunately, the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation has moved away from being an impartial and objective institution and has turned into the Tayyip Radio and Television Corporation,” CHP lawmaker Tuncay Ozkan said.
The remaining independent media also face increasing restrictions. Last month, broadcasting authority RTUK fined independent channels Fox News, Halk TV and TELE1 over news and commentary deemed a breach of regulations. Ilhan Tasci, an opposition-appointed RTUK member, said in all three cases the stations had been accused of criticizing or questioning the actions of the ruling party.
In a statement following the last presidential and general elections in 2018, observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe noted that Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) enjoyed “an undue advantage, including in excessive coverage by government-affiliated public and private media outlets.”
The government’s reach has also been extended over social media, where many opposition voices have retreated.
A “disinformation” law introduced in October allows a jail sentence of up to three years for spreading false information “with the sole aim of creating anxiety, fear or panic among the public.”
Sinan Aygul, the only journalist to be prosecuted under the new law, was handed a 10-month prison term in February. He is currently free while appealing the case.
“The real aim is to silence all dissident voices in society,” said Aygul, chair of the journalists association in Bitlis, southeastern Turkey. It is “a law that targets anyone who expresses an opinion. It targets not only individuals but also media organs,” he said.
The ill-defined law criminalizes “basic journalistic activities,” Aygul said, adding that it could be used during the elections to target groups seeking to protect ballot box security who use social media to highlight abuses.
“If there is going to be fraud in the election, all opposition channels will be silenced by using this law,” he said.
The imposition of a state of emergency over the 11 provinces hit by February’s earthquake has also raised concerns about how the polls will be conducted in the region. A U.N. report published April 11 said at least 3 million people had relocated from their homes in the quake zone, many of them heading to other parts of Turkey.
However, just 133,000 people from the earthquake region have registered to vote outside their home provinces, the head of the Supreme Election Council said last month. Ahmet Yener added that election officials were overseeing preparations, including polling stations at temporary shelters.
In 2018, a nationwide state of emergency imposed following a 2016 coup attempt was in place until shortly before the election, which the OSCE said restricted the media and freedoms of assembly and expression.
Erdogan has stepped up his public appearances, which are closely followed by most TV channels, and uses these official duties to attack his rivals. At a ceremony on the Friday of Eid al-Fitr last month to mark renovations to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, he accused the opposition of “working with terrorist groups.”
The previous evening, the leaders of four political parties allied to the AKP were present for an event to launch the delivery of Black Sea natural gas, despite none holding any government position.
Other large projects that were rolled out ahead of the vote include Turkey’s first nuclear power reactor built by Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear energy company, and several defense developments.
Critics also point to the bending of election law to allow government ministers to stand as parliamentary candidates while remaining in office, despite legal requirements to the contrary.
The election board, meanwhile, has previously faced criticism for siding with AKP objections during elections.
In the 2019 local polls, the victorious opposition mayoral candidate for Istanbul was forced to face a rerun following AKP complaints of ballot irregularities. Results from district and city council votes, which were collected in the same boxes and favored the AKP, were not questioned.
Adem Sozuer of Istanbul University’s law faculty told the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper that voters had lost confidence in the election authorities. “There is widespread suspicion in a significant part of society that elections will be rigged,” he said.
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