"We will finish the job left half completed and will win without succumbing to languor," Numan Kurtulmuş, deputy chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), said, expressing confidence in a victory in the second round of elections on May 28.
The AK Party's leader, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, faces Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu of the six-party opposition alliance in Sunday’s elections. In a tight race, Erdoğan secured 49.52% of the vote against Kılıçdaroğlu’s 44.88%.
Speaking to editors-in-chief of newspapers at a meeting in Istanbul on Tuesday, Kurtulmuş hailed the victory of the People’s Alliance led by the AK Party in legislative polls and a narrow win in the first round of the presidential vote. "We are never worried about the runoff’s outcome but the win in the first round should not drive us to the languor. Instead, we are looking to focus on the issues at hand by finishing this half-completed job," he said. Kurtulmuş said the runoff would be between "world leader" Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu, "who always contradicts himself."
"We have confidence in the sagacity of the electorate," Kurtulmuş stated.
"They claimed that the AK Party would not accept the results if it lost, but on the contrary, it was the opposition that could not accept the results. Sixty-seven percent of the Turkish public voted for the AK Party once or twice in the past elections. We are talking about a great force. President Erdoğan has a vote potential far above 49.5%," he stated.
Kurtulmuş also highlighted that they were analyzing the election results in every province and district to examine the causes of the rise and fall of the vote in certain places. He also stressed that the electorate was not discerning when it came to voting for the People’s Alliance and that ultimately, the alliance "won" in the parliamentary polls.
On the supporters of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which was viewed as a "kingmaker" in the elections with a predicted vote of 13%-14%, Kurtulmuş said the results showed that it the estimate was "unreal." "It is not a party of the entire Türkiye as the results showed. The HDP never wanted to be a key party. It failed to distance itself from the terrorist group (PKK) and could not be a ‘savior’ of Kurdish people," he said. The HDP, which ran in the legislative vote under the name Green Left Party (YSP), endorsed Kılıçdaroğlu in the first round but found its voter base had decreased.
Kurtulmuş also predicted that the opposition bloc united against Erdoğan would fall apart after the runoff. "Kılıçdaroğlu can also remain in his seat as head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP). He will be held accountable for 38 lawmakers (from other parties who ran on the CHP list in the legislative polls). He handed out candidacies to four parties to secure his candidacy, but he failed. Their unity will end after the election. They were not very united before the elections anyway. I don’t recall seeing them on the same page the entire time before the election," he said.
Kılıçdaroğlu’s main pledge is the removal of the current executive presidency system, but Kurtulmuş said that the issue of "bringing back the parliamentary system and prime ministry" was closed "until 2028" (the next election date). "But we can debate the 50+1 system in the presidential election; we can review it," he said. He was referring to a system where any candidate who wins one more vote than 50% can be declared the winner of the presidential election, reducing the possibility of the runoff. He said they now had "a colorful parliament" as more parties secured seats in May 14 elections, though he said some parties still "did not have a social base."
He also spoke about Erdoğan’s endorsement by Sinan Oğan, the third candidate in the elections. Kurtulmuş has represented the AK Party in talks with Ümit Özdağ, head of the Victory Party (ZP), which nominated Oğan for the election as part of the ATA Alliance. Erdoğan had earlier held discussions with Oğan, but Kurtulmuş said there was no bargaining process with Oğan for his support. "The talks were simply on principles," he said. On his meeting with Özdağ, Kurtulmuş said they had differences of opinion, particularly on refugees. Özdağ advocated the forcible return of refugees in Türkiye, particularly Syrians.
Kurtulmuş said Türkiye had been an excellent host for refugees, specifically one of the best hosts in the world. He also dismissed the "faulty numbers" the opposition often voices about the refugees. "We have about 5 million refugees, including 4 million Syrians, not 12 million. So, it will be wrong to assume that all of them will leave in the future," he said. Kurtulmuş said there was also an economic angle to the issue and they should heed the views of the business world on the matter. "We also need to start normalizing the Syrian regime and people of Syria. So, we don’t have a timetable on hand," he said.
The first round of elections was overshadowed by the Feb. 6 earthquakes that killed thousands in Türkiye’s south. To the chagrin of the opposition, Erdoğan emerged the winner in most earthquake-hit provinces. Residents of those provinces faced hate speech for voting for Erdoğan from opposition supporters on social media. "I believe such insults will only increase the turnout in the earthquake zone," Kurtulmuş said. Kurtulmuş highlighted that AK Party lawmakers, mayors and nongovernmental organizations stayed for days in earthquake-hit areas and have been of great service. "We did not conduct propaganda work there; we just addressed the needs of citizens. After the elections, the earthquake zone will remain our priority, too," he said.