By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL- As Turkiye prepares for the runoff election on May 28, both Turkish President Erdogan and CHP Party Chairman and opposition candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu are changing up their campaign strategies in a flurry of meetings to refocus their efforts on winning. According to anonymous sources, Kilicdaroglu has ramped up his team, giving Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu a more prominent role in Kilicdaroglu’s new electoral strategy. Kilicdaroglu also ended his contract with the Turkish team who managed his election campaign in the first round of voting. The CHP party chairman also dismissed his deputy chairman of CHP, Onursal Adiguzel who was in charge of the elections and campaign team responsible for monitoring the vote. Another prominent player in Kilicdaroglu’s new campaign strategy will likely be Canan Kaftancioglu, chairperson of the CHP branch in Istanbul, who sources report, will have a more influential role.
Meanwhile, on Monday evening, Erdogan met with Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) Central Executive Committee in Ankara to brainstorm strategy to win the run-off elections. Top party officials mulled election results while Erdogan urged his team to double down on efforts to achieve a victory on May 28. The party’s plan is to focus on a newer, stronger campaign strategy in the run-up to a second round of voting. Their focus will primarily be in earthquake-hit areas in southeastern Turkiye with Erdogan traveling to the hardest hit provinces. In addition, the AK Party will focus attention in provinces where Sinan Ogan got over 5% of the vote. The party also plans to file objections to election results in the most crucial provinces it wanted to win that include Hakkari and Batman, Isparta and Mersin. The AK Party is planning to create joint campaign officed for the People’s Alliance, instead of campaign offices for each member of the alliance, in order to convey unity.
As for Kilicdaroglu’s new strategy, an unnamed source said that Imamoglu, plans to use his consultants who are currently working at the Istanbul Planning Agency, a subsidiary of Istanbul Municipality, led by Emrah Sahan and his adviser Gokhan Gunaydin. Two other sources familiar with Kilicdaroglu’s new campaign, said CHP is in the process of finalizing their runoff election strategy. With his new strategy, Kilicdaroglu is reportedly targeting 5.2 million first-time voters and appealing to a younger voting base. In a recent message to younger voters on Twitter, Kilicdaroglu said: “Those who want change outnumber those who don’t in our country. You don’t even have enough money for basic necessities, including buying a cup of coffee. Your joy of life has been stolen. Yet, youth should be carefree. They haven’t let you experience this even for a day. While we argue, they stand united against you.” Also, late on Tuesday, Kilicdaroglu appointed an adviser for elections, Mehmet Ali Yuksel, a CHP official representing Istanbul’s impoverished Kagithane district.
While Kilicdaroglu’s six-party alliance hopes to rely on the disgruntled Turkish populace in the wake of severe inflation that has not shown any sign of abating since it took hold in January 2022 – Erdogan’s camp is relying on its track record and emotional appeal to diehard Erdogan supporters. When it comes to who might be victorious, Turkish officials and sources close to Erdogan told Middle East Eye, (MEE) they believe Erdogan will ace the runoff. It has also now been officially validated that seven polls conducted by AK Party in the last month, showed Erdogan was leading only by two to three points ahead of Kilicdaroglu. Going into the second round, Erdogan has a clear advantage because his party still maintains a majority in parliament.
Erdogan told his party that he will respect whatever choice the Turkish citizens decide on while he emphasized what’s most crucial is to maintain the lead in the runoff. In a tweet on Tuesday, Erdoğan urged voters “regardless of their political party” to back him in the runoff vote: “The May 14 elections were a festive occasion fit for our democracy with a high turnout and thanks to our revered nation’s common sense. “As he concluded, “Regardless of the outcome, the winner of the May 14 elections is Turkish democracy and the nation. The nation overwhelmingly chose me with over 27 million votes and showed how much it trusted us, how much it believed us and our People’s Alliance, and saw a good future (under our leadership) by electing our lawmakers to Parliament. I am grateful to each of 56 million people who cast their ballots and kept democracy alive for their vote.” Erdogan added, “Until May 28, we will fulfill our responsibility to the people by not resting and by passionately working. We will come out victorious in May 28 election by raising the number of votes we won on May 14 and will accomplish a historic success, God willing.” A lot is riding on the outcome of this election since Erdogan has been in power since 2003 and while a large swath of the country clearly seeks change, there are still a majority of Turks who clearly prefer to trust the status-quo de
