'Strongman' Erdogan Set To Cement His Hold On Turkey

Turkish president has forced his opponent to change tack to try and close gap from first round, writes Borzou Daragahi

- Borzou Daragahi

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan will likely get the election he wanted: an exciting contest that riles up his supporters but leaves his domestic opponents falling short – while being just transparent and free enough to win the grudging nod of Western leaders who had hoped he would leave office.

As Erdogan, 69, heads into the decisive second round of the presidential elections this Sunday against Kemal Kilicdaroglu – who is heading up a six-party opposition coalition – all signs point to him cementing his hold over this nation of 85 million for another five years.

The president has faced anger for months over the state of the country’s economy – on a years-long downward spiral – and his government’s slow response to devasting earthquakes that killed 50,000 people in February. But he managed to use his considerable power over state institutions and information channels to shape the election battlefield and came out with 49.5 per cent of the vote in the first round – falling just a half-percentage point or 155,000 votes short of scoring an outright victory – compared with Kılıcdaroglu’s 44.9 per cent.

In the two weeks between the rounds, Erdogan has moved the campaign more into the realm of national identity and security, far friendlier terrain for the president – who likes to project a strongman image – than inflation or the price of the onions, a particular line for Kilicdaroglu. It has also forced his opponent to switch tactics and take a harder line on the issue of migration, with Kılıcdaroglu aligning with an ultranationalist fringe figure to try and win votes.