The elections in Turkey also concern us

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For 20 years, only one man has been in charge in Turkey. He is head of state, head of government, commander-in-chief, police and party leader all rolled into one. He keeps the National Bank on the short end of the stick and controls more than 90 percent of the traditional media. Recep Tayyip Erdogan (69) no longer differs much from the sultans who once ruled the Bosphorus, writes the American foreign policy magazine ‘Foreign Affairs’.

But opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu (74) could soon finish off the longtime ruler in Ankara. He is just ahead of Erdogan in polls. The first vote is on May 14 and the second on May 28. The result has significance far beyond the national borders:

Millions of people seeking protection remain in Turkey, including about four million war refugees from Syria. Erdogan has repeatedly threatened Brussels to open its borders to Greece and Bulgaria if the EU does not dance to his tune. Billions of euros are being paid to keep the floodgates closed. Opposing candidate Kilicdaroglu wants to avoid such games. His party has pledged to return the Syrian refugees to their homes, defusing Turkey’s most powerful foreign policy weapon.

Erdogan, commander-in-chief of the second largest NATO army after the US, is blocking Sweden’s entry into the Western military alliance. The reason: the government refuses to extradite a group of Kurdish activists to Turkey. For Ankara they are terrorists, Stockholm refers to freedom of expression. If Erdogan stays in power, he will further weaken NATO. One in particular benefits from this: the Russian ruler Vladimir Putin (70).

Erdogan has teamed up with two radical splinter parties before the elections. They are calling for the 2012 law on the protection of women, which allows Turkish courts to prohibit men who beat their wives from contacting them. After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, this would be another serious blow to women’s rights.

After Donald Trump (76) was voted out in the US in 2020 and Jair Bolsonaro (68) in Brazil in 2022, Erdogan would be the third right-wing populist to step down. His defeat would be another indication that the derogatory attitude of political opponents, personal attacks on dissenters and the campaign against free media are no longer accepted by a majority of voters.

Hundreds of thousands of Turks have left their homes. Many members of the opposition and members of ethnic and religious minorities fear that Erdogan will treat them even more brutally if they are re-elected. Opposition members who have fled into exile, including many well-trained specialists, are toying with the idea of ​​returning to their homeland if Erdogan loses power and Kilicdaroglu ushers in “a new spring” in Turkey, as he promises on his election posters.

Source: Blick