Türkiye election: What can Erdogan and Kelčdaroglu offer voters? | Politics | Al Jazeera

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will face the country’s opposition candidate Klčdaroglu in Sunday’s crucial presidential election runoff.

Erdogan, who has ruled the country for more than 20 years, narrowly missed the chance of direct victory in the first round of voting on May 14 this year, but he is expected to win another five-year term through the runoff election.

The incumbent got 49.5% of the vote, while Klutchdaroglu got 44.8% in the first round of voting. The third candidate, Sinan Ogun, a politician less familiar to the Turkish public, got 5.2 percent of the vote, backed by an ultra-nationalist coalition.

However, in an unforeseen political split, Ogun opted to back Erdogan in the runoff, while the ATA alliance, which backed Ogun, switched to support Klutchdaroglu after striking a deal with him .

The rise in nationalist votes in the first ballot, and the nationalist nature of the third candidate and the coalition behind him, had a major impact on the campaign in the two weeks leading up to the runoff.

The electoral agenda has clearly shifted from the crisis-hit economy of Turkey and relief from the earthquake that killed tens of thousands in February to issues of “terrorism” and the fate of refugees in the country.

Here are the two candidates’ key policies, promises and statements on key issues:

Erdogan

• “Terrorism” issue: Throughout Erdogan’s campaign, the incumbent has used sharp rhetoric about “terrorist groups” and put security at the top of his agenda, in an apparent bid to attract nationalist votes.

Erdogan has often claimed that his opponents are backed by “terrorist groups” such as the PKK, which has waged wars for autonomy since the 1980s, and Erdoğan, who is accused of staging a failed 2016 coup. Dogan’s former ally “Gülen Movement”.

Throughout the campaign, Erdogan has said his government will smash the groups.

“We will resolutely continue to fight against all evil networks, including the separatist terrorist organization PKK and its affiliates,” he said in a public speech earlier this week, adding that thanks to his efforts, the Kurdish The Workers’ Party “can no longer operate in Turkey”.

• refugee issue: Erdogan promised to return nearly a million Syrian refugees to their homes after completing a housing project in Turkey-controlled northern Syria, but gave no timetable.

He also said improving dialogue between Syria and Turkey through Russian mediation efforts would help facilitate the “voluntary” return of those refugees.

Erdogan has often accused the opposition of discriminating against refugees in the country, which, according to official figures, hosts nearly 3.4 million refugees.

Erdogan noted in a recent interview that Kelčdaroglu “is trying to use hate speech to salvage the situation”.

• Economic issues: Erdogan has pledged to continue his unconventional economic policies, including keeping interest rates low amid hyperinflation and a cost-of-living crisis.

Erdogan has said he aims to bring inflation down to 20% in 2023 and below 10% in 2024, but added that his government will continue to cut interest rates.

He reiterated after the first round of voting on May 14, “My view is that interest rates are directly proportional to the rate of inflation” and “the lower the rate, the lower the rate of inflation. According to my theory, the rate of interest is the Cause, inflation rate is just a consequence.”

• Post-Earthquake Relief Issues: Erdogan has promised to provide 20-year housing loans with a two-year grace period to earthquake survivors in southeastern Turkey.

Erdogan’s government plans to build a total of 650,000 new housing units in the region, promising to deliver 319,000 of them within a year.

The current president also announced that he will build important defense industrial production facilities in some of the quake-hit provinces.

Clecdaroglu

• “Terrorism” issue: The presidential candidate made “terrorism” one of the top topics during the two-week voting hiatus.

He commented on the issue of Erdogan’s government having been an ally with the Gülen movement, as well as that Turkey had held talks with the PKK with the president’s approval.

He also pledged to fight all “terrorists” on television and on social media.

The May 24 agreement signed between Kelčdaroglu and the Victory Party, which leads the nationalist ATA alliance, states that “terrorism will be fought, not negotiated with. Any political and legal measures against the Turkish state and unitary state structures Arrangements are not allowed.”

• refugee issue: Klutchdaroglu stepped up his anti-refugee rhetoric after the first round of voting in an apparent attempt to attract nationalist votes.

Ahead of the first round of elections, the candidate pledged to return refugees in Turkey to their countries within two years through a deal with the Syrian government. The agreement reached between Kelecidaroglu and the Victory Party shortened this period to one year.

Klutchdaroglu said in a “YouTube” program that aired earlier this week that the repatriation process would be done according to certain rules and that the EU should fund the process because of the current refugee agreement between the two parties.

He also said, “We will create the infrastructure for this process. We will ensure the safety of their lives and property before sending them away.”

• Economic issues: Klutchdaroglu has promised to restore conventional economic policies including reasonable interest rates to combat the country’s severe hyperinflation, and he has repeatedly condemned Erdogan’s low interest rate policy.

Klečdaroglu said he would try to attract foreign investment for Turkey, against the backdrop of his commitment to building a country that manufactures high-value products.

He also claimed he could attract as much as $300 billion in investment from abroad, saying investors only wanted to invest in Turkey’s democracy and confidence.

Kelčdaroglu said he would ban property sales to foreign nationals until Turkey’s housing crisis, fueled by hyperinflation, earthquakes and other factors, is resolved.

• Post-Earthquake Relief Issues: The opposition leader pledged free housing for earthquake survivors who lost property in the disaster.

Klutchdaroglu said his goal was to turn the quake-hit area into a production base, adding that materials needed to build new homes would be produced in the area.

He also said recently that “once the wounds are healed, the region will become one of the largest producing areas in the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa.”