Turkey is heading to the elections amid a major economic crisis and the devastation of the February earthquakes that shook the country. As the competition between the opposition and the government heats up, anger continues in earthquake-affected zones. And the interior ministry faces allegations of setting up an election monitoring system.
Frustration continues in quake-hit city
In the aftermath of the February earthquakes that devastated several provinces in southern and southeastern Turkey, killing more than 50,000 people, survivors are still struggling to return to normal life and access basic necessities with millions still living in tents.
During the Green Left Party’s election campaigns in Hatay, one of the cities most devastated by the earthquake, anger against the government was evident. Voters said they stood with the Green Left Party and Kılıçdaroğlu and opposed Erdoğan, who asked for “blessings” after the disaster.
Green Left Party mobilises voters
The Green Left Party, through which the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) will run in the elections, will transport voters to their residential addresses to vote. The party called on earthquake survivors to contact them before 10 May in order to get to their polling stations.
The party is identifying and registering voters who currently live in a city other than their residential address where they can vote.
Over two million quake survivors moved to other cities in the aftermath of the calamity. The number of quake-affected voters who left the earthquake-hit cities but did not register their new addresses is between one million and 1,600,000.
The opposition had previously called on the YSK to provide transportation to earthquake victims for the elections. However, Recep Özel, the AKP’s representative on the YSK, told Deutsche Welle Turkish that earthquake victims should go to the polls either by their own means or through political parties, adding that it is not the YSK’s duty to transport voters.
Over one million citizens vote abroad
The number of Turkish citizens who have voted abroad has exceeded one million. Around three and a half million voters living abroad are expected to vote before 9 May.
Demirtaş calls for support for Kılıçdaroğlu
Jailed former Peoples’ Democratic Party Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş expressed open support for the opposition’s joint candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu through his lawyers on Twitter and launched a hashtag campaign.
“My vote is for you #PresidentKılıçdaroğlu,” Demirtaş wrote, with many users repeating the hashtag.
Kılıçdaroğlu releases short video
“If you are poorer today than yesterday, it is because of Erdoğan,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in a video he shared on Wednesday with the caption “The shortest video” on his social media account, which he has actively used during the election period.
Kaftancıoğlu exposes mandatory participation in AKP rallies
CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu shared a screenshot of a message sent by a company to its employees reminding them that attendance at the AKP rally on Sunday is mandatory and said, “Those who will attend the rally compulsorily, I promise, we are coming for you too.”
Both Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu will hold rallies in Istanbul on Sunday. “Participation in our rally is voluntary, not compulsory,” Kaftancıoğlu said on Wednesday, and invited the public to participate in the opposition rally in Istanbul’s Maltepe district on the same day.
Celebrities call on public to become observers
The Election Security Platform called on the public to become ‘observers’ for the Turkish elections. In the platform’s call, celebrities addressed the public, saying, “Become an observer, go to the ballot box while the votes are counted!”
State-run TV broadcasts for Erdoğan
Turkey’s state-run network TRT broadcast a montage synchronised with Erdoğan speaking at a tunnel opening ceremony in the northern province of Trabzon on Wednesday. TRT broadcast the ceremony using footage that matched Erdoğan’s remarks, in which he once again called Demirtaş a “terrorist” and Kılıçdaroğlu a “collaborator with terrorists.”
Voters in Turkey are outraged by TRT’s coverage of Erdoğan and lack of coverage for the opposition. According to the country’s radio and television authority, TRT gave 32 hours of coverage to Erdoğan and 32 minutes to Kılıçdaroğlu during April.
“The table reveals that TRT, which is a public broadcaster and broadcasts with the taxes of 85 million citizens, has clearly turned into a propaganda tool of the AKP,” said Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) member İlhan Taşçı.
AKP ally calls for “criminalising adultery”
Fatih Erbakan, the chairman of the New Welfare Party (YRP), which is part of the AKP-led People’s Alliance, shared a poster on his social media account with the phrase “Towards parliament to criminalise adultery”. The post received heavy backlash.
Ministry faces accusations of illegal election monitoring system
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has rejected accusations that his ministry created a parallel structure to the Supreme Election Board (YSK). Accusing Muharrem Erkek, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) official who made the allegation, of “gossiping”, Soylu argued that the claims were “completely fabricated” in a live broadcast on Wednesday.
Following Erkek’s allegations against the interior ministry, it was revealed on Wednesday that the Security and Emergency Coordination Center (GAMER) under the interior ministry had requested domestic and international ballot information from the YSK, T24 reported.
Hadimi Yakupoğlu, the CHP’s representative to the YSK, said the ministry’s request was rejected by the YSK with a majority of votes.
Soylu also claimed that the opposition wants to normalise the LGBTI+ lifestyle in the country and criticised Kılıçdaroğlu’s promise to abolish the practice of appointing mayors to municipalities in Kurdish-majority provinces, arguing that this practice was a necessity against “terrorism”.
Electoral bans start today
Electoral bans for the presidential and parliamentary general elections to be held on 14 May have started today.
Public opinion polls, surveys, forecasts and publications being used in favour of or against candidates or in a way to influence votes will not be allowed through written, oral or visual media and broadcasting tools until after the elections.
