The main challenger trying to unseat Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in this month's presidential election is a completely different person, completely different from the current president who has been in power for two decades.
While Erdogan is a fiery speaker, the humble Kemal Kilicdaroglu is quiet. Erdogan is also in charge of the campaign, using state resources and rallies to reach supporters, while Kilicdaroglu speaks to voters in videos from his kitchen. As Erdogan has grown increasingly authoritarian, Kilicdaroglu has built a reputation as a bridge builder and promises to restore democracy.
The contrasts are also reflected in their political paths. Erdogan's enduring power has kept him in office first as prime minister and then as president since 2003. Kilicdaroglu has not won a general election since taking the helm of his center-left, secular Republican People's Party (CHP) in 2010.
But that could change on May 14, when Turkey holds its most hotly contested presidential election in years. Public opinion polls give Kilicdaroglu, 74, a slight lead over Erdogan, although analysts warn not to write off the current president with powerful political skills. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the second round of elections will be held on May 28.
Divisions within the opposition have long helped the 69-year-old Erdogan hold on to power, but this time Kilicdaroglu is coming as the candidate of a united "National Alliance" bloc that has united six different parties, including nationalists and Islamists. Kilicdaroglu also received the tacit support of the pro-Kurdish party.
Adding to Kilicdaroglu's chances of victory is the faltering economy of Tursa and high inflation, which are blamed on Erdogan's unconventional economic policy. Another factor is the devastating earthquake in February that killed more than 50.000 people and exposed years of government negligence.
The "National Alliance" has promised to revoke Erdogan's decisions to concentrate enormous powers in the hands of the president. That coalition also promised to re-establish parliamentary democracy with checks and balances, return to more conventional economic policies and fight corruption.
"This election is about rebuilding Turkey, making sure no child goes to bed hungry. It's about securing gender equality," Kilicdaroglu told a rally in the CHP stronghold of Izmir, western Turkey. "These elections are for reconciliation, not for conflict. These elections are about bringing democracy to Turkey," he said.
In another sharp contrast to the current president, Kilicdaroglu has said he intends to serve only one term and then retire to spend time with his three grandchildren. If elected, he plans to move into the modest presidential palace in Ankara where former presidents have lived, rather than the 1.150-room palace built by Erdogan.
Under Kilicdaroglu, analysts say, Turkey is likely to take a more pro-European and pro-NATO stance, while still maintaining economic ties with Russia.
Erdogan Toprak, a CHP lawmaker and long-time friend of Kilicdaroglu, said a united opposition would not have emerged without Kilicdaroglu's patience and consensus-building skills. Former allies of Erdogan are also in that block.
"Kiličdaroglu is not angry," Toprak said. "He attaches great importance to compromise and shows tolerance. That is what created the coalition".
A social democrat who has built a reputation for honesty and integrity, Kilicdaroglu was born in 1948 in Tunceli province in eastern Turkey. His father was an official and his mother was a housewife.
He is the fourth of seven children from an Alawite family, an Islamic tradition distinct from Sunni, Shiite and Alawite sects whose members have faced discrimination in predominantly Sunni Turkey.
An economist by training, Kilicdaroglu headed Turkey's social security organization before joining the CHP and winning a seat in parliament in 2002, the same year Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party came to power.
He gained public attention after exposing corruption allegations against members of the ruling party and became CHP leader following the resignation of former party chief Deniz Baikal, who died this year.
Under Kilicdaroglu's leadership, the CHP, founded in 1923 by the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, has shed its rigid secular, nationalist stance and has recently opened up to minority Kurds and more conservative sections of society. that party assured devout women that their right to wear headscarves, as required by Islam, would be respected.
Under Kilicdaroglu's leadership, the party succeeded in ousting the ruling party mayors in Istanbul and Ankara in 2019 by launching an effective campaign for local elections. Until then, the party had lost all parliamentary and presidential elections. Popular mayors of Ankara and Istanbul campaigned on Kilicdaroglu's behalf.
However, Kilicdaroglu is prone to mistakes, and on April 1 he was forced to apologize after he was photographed accidentally stepping on a prayer rug. Erdogan, who has mercilessly ridiculed Kilicdaroglu for years, used it to portray his rival as a disrespecter of religious values.
Erdogan often refers to Kilicdaroglu as "Bai Kemal" or "Mr. Kemal" to portray him as an elitist political figure out of touch with the people of Turkey's conservative, impoverished heartland, even though Kilicdaroglu comes from a low-income area. Kilicdaroglu adopted the nickname in response, often referring to himself as "Bai Kemal".
Many speculated that his Alawite background could cost him Sunni votes. Kilicdaroglu first spoke of his Alawite heritage in a video statement in April, when he called on young voters to put an end to divisive sectarian politics.
Unlike Erdogan, whose control over the mainstream media allows him to dominate the airwaves, Kilicdaroglu is trying to win over voters with videos from his humble kitchen posted on social media. Pictures of his kitchen are now used as backgrounds for video conference calls.
In 2017, Kilicdaroglu attracted international attention when he walked from Ankara to Istanbul for 25 days in the "March for Justice", to protest the conviction of one of his MPs and heavy state repression of government critics after the 2016 coup attempt.
The politician survived an attack in 2016 when Kurdish rebels fired a missile at the convoy he was traveling in. Three years later, he escaped another attack by suspected Erdogan supporters while attending the funeral of a soldier killed in clashes with rebels.
"Turkey is going through a difficult period," said MP and Kilicdaroglu's friend Toprak, adding that "Turkey has the problem of one-man rule, and that will disappear."
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