Five days before presidential and parliamentary elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in Aydın on the Aegean coast for a massive rally on Tuesday.
The president, who will face three contenders for Türkiye’s top office, hit the opposition in his speech as he listed the ruling Justice and Development Party Party (AK Party) governments’ accomplishments.
“Are you ready for a vote boom?” he told a vibrant crowd, waving AK Party flags and banners reading slogans of admiration for the longstanding leader. “We have to teach a lesson to them,” he said, referring to the opposition bloc of six parties, united with a single goal of defeating Erdoğan.
“This is an election between those fighting terrorism and those walking with separatists,” he said, referring to support from terrorist groups to the opposition bloc led by Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the main rival of Erdoğan.
The president screened a compilation of documentaries and news programs on the past failures of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, a bureaucrat who served as head of the country’s social security institution before making his foray into politics. “They are of no use to this country,” Erdoğan said. Erdoğan often accuses Kılıçdaroğlu of failure in social security management in the country when health care crumbled and people had difficulty accessing overcrowded hospitals. He also showed the crowd the videos of representatives of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) who openly disclosed their ties to the PKK terrorist group. The HDP, which did not field a presidential candidate in the elections, announced support for Kılıçdaroğlu for president.
Erdoğan said they adopted an embracing political will for 21 years “which never interfered with people’s freedoms, lifestyle or what they wear.” “You will either elect this understanding or those threatening everyone from teachers to police officers,” he said, referring to the opposition bloc’s threatening language to “reckon with” what they claim are “pro-AK Party” civil servants.
The president’s Aydın rally had a special meaning for the leader, who views former Prime Minister Adnan Menderes as one of his political idols. Aydın is the hometown and constituency of Menderes, who emerged victorious in the first multiparty elections in 1950. The president chose May 14, specifically referring to these elections, for the upcoming elections. Erdoğan remembered Menderes fondly in his speech and slammed the “single-party” mindset that sent Menderes to execution. Menderes was hanged after a military junta seized power in 1960, something supported by the CHP back then, according to the party’s critics.
“The current mindset of the CHP is no different than the fascism of a single party,” Erdoğan said, referring to the CHP before the Menderes victory.
