Will Erdogan refuse to hand over power in case of election defeat
New statement Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has added to a series of tense statements on Turkish politics, with the upcoming 2023 Turkish elections, and several senior leaders of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) joining him, indicating that the president and his government’s departure from power in case they lose the elections will not be easy.
Erdogan delivered a speech at the Turkish Aerospace Industries Center in Qahraman-Kazan, Ankara, in which he claimed that the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the core of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), are supporting opposition National Alliance candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Turkish newspaper Zaman reported.
Speaking at the event, which was attended by his electoral ally, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) President Devlet Bahceli, his electoral ally Grand Union Party (MHP) Chairman Mustafa Dasteci, and his electoral ally Democratic Left Party (SDP) Chairman Önder Akçkale, Erdogan said: “The government will not tolerate all those who target Turkish lives, from ISIS to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).”
Erdogan claimed that some, led by Kilicdaroglu, were meeting with the PKK, and that the latter was supporting it, stating that they would not hand the country over to a president who would be in office with the support of the terrorist organization.
Erdogan alluded to the hardening of his policy during a public meeting in Ankara on Sunday.
During his speech, Erdogan lashed out at all parties involved in the opposition Umma Alliance, saying: “Blinded by greed, they even sat at the negotiating table with the political wing of the PKK, which shed the blood of dozens of the city’s residents. These are Mr. Kemal and Mrs. Meral, on the other hand, Babacan and Davutoglu, and the heads of the municipalities of Istanbul and Ankara,” the newspaper said.
“Mr. Kemal, where do you get the instructions? From Kandil, the stronghold of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)? What do you say, Qandil? They will support Mr. Kamal. Wow! Tell me who your friend is. Tell you who you are. Will the country benefit from any of Qandil’s comrades?”.
The opposition’s victory in the presidential election will be a coup against Turkey’s full independence, said Erdogan’s chief advisor Mehmet Oshum, who was appearing on the Khabar Turk TV program.
“There is a conflict between world countries and nation-states, and Turkey is one of the nation-states that can reconcile with the West and Russia at the same time,” he said. There are no opposition positions that offer guarantees about the systematic treatment of terrorist organizations. Recently, a senior CHP official said they would consider withdrawing Turkish soldiers from Syria and Iraq.”
Oshum described the change of power during the upcoming elections as a coup against the complete independence of Turkey, saying: “I believe that the philosophy of Western power will dominate Turkish politics and will endanger Turkey’s geographical and political unity. Will this work? That’s a different point, but I think the fundamentalist state doctrine will stand out.”
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu also described the upcoming elections as a political coup attempt, during a speech at the University of Light’s Istanbul Science and Culture Park.
Soylu explained in his speech that this was stated by the US president years ago: “After all their previous methods failed, they saw that this was the only way to control Turkey. These elections will not be easy. These elections are the elections that everyone will run with all their earnings and savings. These elections are not only the issue of our state, they are the issue of the Muslim world and the years to come. It is an issue of whether the world will be formed again,” Zaman newspaper reported.
