ATA Alliance presidential candidate Sinan Ogun announces that he will support Awami League presidential candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the second round of voting in Ankara, Turkey, May 22, 2023.
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A third-party candidate, said to be the kingmaker in Turkey’s presidential election, whose support could influence the outcome of the vote, announced his support for incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a blow to the opposition and its 20 Years later hopes of overthrowing the Turkish leader have dealt a blow to the establishment.
Sinan Ogun, a Turkish nationalist candidate running in Turkey’s May 14 presidential election, expressed support for Erdogan late on Monday. Ogun surpassed expectations by winning a surprise 5% of the vote in the initial race, becoming the figure both Erdogan and his rival Kemal Kildaroglu needed to turn to in order to win support voters.
The crucial presidential election in the country of 85 million people will be run off on May 28, as no candidate won more than 50% of the vote. Erdogan, 69, was far ahead with 49.5 percent of the vote; Kilicdaroglu, 74, had 44.9 percent.
The results of the first round of Turkey’s presidential election are a blow to the opposition, which is made up of six different parties and is led by Kilidaroglu, who is campaigning for change, economic reforms, protecting democratic values and strengthening relations with the Turkey’s ties to the West.
Despite Turkey’s sluggish economy, deeply devalued currency, high inflation and the government’s slow response to a series of devastating earthquakes in February that killed some 50,000 people, Erdogan has so far led the pack. Ogun’s support is bad news for Turkey’s opposition.
“I declare that we will support the candidate of Awami League chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan and invite voters who voted for us in the first round to vote for Mr Erdogan,” Organ said on Monday. express.
It was a “deliberate decision because we believe it’s the right thing for our country and our people,” he said.
Ogun, a hardline anti-immigrant nationalist, was at the time the presidential candidate for the Union of Ancestors, a coalition of Turkey’s right-wing parties. He has previously said his support will depend on each candidate taking a tougher stance against migrant, refugee and Kurdish groups that Organ considers terrorists.
As a result, Kilicdaroglu delivered a speech filled with anti-immigrant rhetoric — but failed to convince Ogan and his constituents.
“It’s hard to see a winning path for Kilicdaroglu,” Timothy Ash, emerging markets strategist at Bluebay Asset Management, wrote on Twitter.
Soner Cagaptay, a Turkish historian and senior fellow at the Washington Institute, noted that voters in Ogun on May 14 were mostly from the same regions as Erdogan’s staunchest supporters. “Almost identical to Erdogan’s base, which means a slam dunk for him on May 28!” Cagaptay wrote.
Others described Kilidaroglu facing an “uphill battle” in his bid to win.
Kilicdaroglu himself responded to Ogan’s statement with comments on Twitter.
“It’s clear who is on the side of those who are betraying this beautiful country,” he wrote Monday, including anti-immigrant language in his response. Turkey is home to 4 million refugees, mostly Syrians and Afghans, many of whom are routinely subjected to racial discrimination.
“We came to save this country from terrorism and immigration. This is a referendum,” he wrote. “Let’s not allow anyone to fool anyone again. I invite all non-voting young people and 8 million citizens to come to the ballot box.”