President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan started the week in his campaign trail in Kırklareli, a small northwestern province that profoundly impacted his political career. As he addressed a vibrant crowd, he reminisced about his days in a prison in the province years ago and reiterated his commitment to the country’s self-reliance.
“We will not beg for money from usurers in London as Mr. Kemal did; we will not hand over our economy to International Monetary Fund (IMF) again,” he told the rally. Erdoğan’s strongest rival in May 14 elections is Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu of the Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Kılıçdaroğlu, nominated by an opposition bloc of six parties, vowed to improve the Turkish economy by bringing $300 billion (TL 5.85 trillion) from abroad. The CHP leader embarked on a tour of Europe and the United States long before his candidacy was announced. Under the leadership of Erdoğan, whose ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was elected into office more than two decades ago, Türkiye paid off all debts to the IMF by 2013, erasing the legacy of ailing governments of the past that drove Türkiye into a financial crisis in the early 2000s. Although Türkiye faces the fallout from global economic uncertainty, Erdoğan is credited with the country’s post-2001 crisis recovery through a new initiative. Public-private partnerships for significant infrastructure investments, from roads to hospitals, marked a new era for Türkiye’s long-stalled progress. Erdoğan is also credited with cutting off dependence on other countries in defense, a key factor that helped its counterterrorism efforts that were another factor in stalling the growth and investment.
Erdoğan was incarcerated for four months in Pınarhisar prison of Kırklareli in 1999 after reciting a poem when he was a mayor of Istanbul, at a time conservative people like Erdoğan were deemed “reactionary” by the secular elite and often subject to a witch hunt. “Kırklareli has a different place in my political life. This province hosted me when I was unfairly sentenced. I never forgot the dark days when newspapers announced how much political life I had remaining,” he said. Erdoğan was referring to the period when he was openly derided by media outlets supportive of military tutelage. “I also never forgot the conscience of people standing against injustice and the tears hundreds of thousands of people shed as they bid farewell to me on my way to the prison. Along with Kırklareli, the entire Türkiye stood for us and had their hopes for us,” he said.
The president said the “dungeon” became his first step in a new journey. “We outlined the ambition of our party here; we dreamed of our future vision here,” he said.
“In 21 years, we introduced the greatest investments to our country and implemented projects in each of 81 provinces. We broke free from political instability, coups, crises and tutelage. We never submitted to the policies of obstacles we faced; we never submitted to the policy of sabotage we faced,” he said. He hit out to the opposition for announcing pledges they could not fulfill. “We didn’t use future tense like them and did everything we promised to our nation in past election rallies,” he said. “Mr. Kemal can talk to usurers in London whenever he wants, but he will lose this election. You are being deceived by those who gave you pledges. We don’t give secret pledges as you did to separatists,” he said, referring to Kılıçdaroğlu’s pre-election talk with a political party with close links with the PKK terrorist group.
