Kiliçdaroglu: Running to the Right of Erdogan

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-elections-opposition-candidate-kilicdaroglu-refugees-expel

To the surprise of many, Erdogan not only did better than expected in the first round of the election, he now stands all but poised to win another term. This is despite the crushing economic troubles the country faces and the scandal surrounding the response to the February 2023 earthquake and subsequent questions surrounding corruption, building codes, and the like.

Sensing the danger and the possible defeat in the second round, opposition candidate Kiliçdaroglu has made a cynical appeal to nationalism and is now trying to run to the right of Erdogan. It's a move we've seen time and again by supposedly Left-wing parties who resort to such tactics or to forms of political triangulation. Winning is all that matters it would seem.

It's hard not to turn into a cynic regarding any of these figures. The temptations of power are so great that few – very few indeed, are able to retain their principles.

There have been many discussions regarding Kiliçdaroglu, his viability, sincerity, and to what degree he is even to be taken seriously. He represents a coalition of forces both within and without the country that are trying (by almost any means available) to bring Erdogan down – who despite everything remains fairly popular and has a very large and devoted base.

For my part I find it most astonishing that Kiliçdaroglu would support such anti-refugee and deportation policies considering that he is an Alevi – part of a minority sect that has faced centuries of political and religiously motivated violence, even in the modern ostensibly secular state of Türkiye. It demonstrates that Kiliçdaroglu is an opportunist. He is supported by the West and the NATO Establishment to be sure – they would really like to see Erdogan removed from the scene and replaced by someone pliable and submissive.

As far as the question of refugees, it's hard to avoid adding yet another layer of cynicism, all the more when one considers Kiliçdaroglu's role vis-à-vis the Western powers and the recent rehabilitation of Syria's Bashar al-Assad by the Arab League – an open declaration that the war in Syria has ended and the Western-backed rebels have been defeated.

Elements in the West and particularly Washington and London are seething over this state of affairs and a massive influx of expelled Syrian refugees from Türkiye into Syria will certainly generate instability – one that some would see as desirable and a further justification for the retention of US troops in the east and northeast of the country.

But there are internal tensions over such questions – both in Türkiye and Washington.

It's a big day for the people of Türkiye and the results of the second round runoff will be watched and discussed by everyone in the region, from Russia to Libya, from France to Central Asia.