In front of the crowd, he presents himself as an almost certain winner. And even if he has to submit to a second round, Recep Tayyip Erdogan dared, Friday, May 26, to tell the story of his victory. If Erdogan wins on Sunday, Turkey will clearly take an even more nationalist turn. And that’s what his constituents in the Kasimpasa district are asking him to do. “I am a nationalist, and I want him to continue to take care of the fatherland”, says a man. The maintenance of the president, but with a requirement, that of stopping double-digit inflation, which he has not done so far.
Fear of an even more authoritarian drift
In the event of a third term, will Recep Tayyip Erdogan soften? Take into account this half of the country which aspires to more democracy, and which voted against it. Saturday afternoon, supporters of his rival did not believe it. “If he stays, I think he will harden his tone, because he lost votes in the first round”, judges a woman. The fear of an even more authoritarian drift is very present.
A Franco-Turkish journalist faces 14 years in prison, accused of terrorist propaganda. “I am accused of having advocated terrorism, when we were just participating in a solidarity campaign to support a pro-Kurdish daily”, says Erol Onderoglu, journalist, representative of Reporters Without Borders in Turkey. For him, Erdogan should continue the lockdown of society, if re-elected.
Internationally, a third term would be continuity. Erdogan has imposed himself, especially with the war in Ukraine. Twenty years, and maybe five more, if he is re-elected on Sunday.