The economic downturn and huge price increases are the biggest problem for Turkish President Erdogan ahead of Sunday's election. But despite the suffering, there are many people who still believe only in him.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule in Turkey has been going on for two decades, and on Sunday (May 14) citizens will decide whether they want him at the head of the country for another five years. At the same time, parliamentary elections are held.
Public opinion polls indicate that this time the opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu has a real chance - he is given a five percent advantage in the first round, even with a chance to immediately reach the magical fifty percent.
One of the reasons for this is that inflation is almost reaching fifty percent. Officially, it's at 43 percent, and wages aren't growing nearly enough to mitigate price increases.
But far from all citizens blaming the authorities for this. A taxi driver in the city of Konya in Anatolia tells us that he is finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet, but he will definitely vote for Erdogan. He mentions the Turkish president's big project, the electric car factory.
"If the opposition would not only criticize these projects but also support them a little, they might get more votes," he says.
Such stories are common in Konja. Let's say, 73 percent of citizens there say that inflation is unbearable, rents are rising, public transportation is not good... and then, in the last elections in 2018, Erdogan's party won almost 60 percent of the votes there, and Erdogan himself over 70 percent.
Megalomaniac projects
The reason why the opposition elsewhere is gaining more and more support is precisely that Erdogan was particularly proud of the economic success of the country with him at the helm. A large number of projects have been launched, with which the opposition finds objections.
They say that they are megalomaniacs, that jobs are divided along party and partnership lines.
And Trabzon on the Black Sea coast is also a place where Erdogan's conservative party regularly wins. The fall in the value of the Turkish lira makes that tourist destination cheaper for foreign tourists - last season 600.000 tourists came, this year they want it to be a million.
Erkut Çelebi is the president of the local chamber of commerce and complains that Trabzon is "the only place on the Black Sea coast where almost nothing is invested". they don't live here".
The only thing that saves them are tourists, primarily from the Arab world. But for some residents, this is not happiness either: "Arabs buy too many houses and that's why the prices are high", thinks garbage collector Kadir Jilmaz.
Farmer Vural Oksuz also regularly votes for Erdogan, but says: "It is wrong to allow Arabs to buy houses." It hurts our purchasing power.” Will they vote for the Turkish president again? Of course they will, only Erdogan knows how to make things better for them.
Who else but Kilicdaroglu?
On the other hand, in the birthplace of opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the small town of Tuncelia in eastern Anatolia, a right-wing party has never won an election for a century anyway. With "their" Kemal, the decision is clear in advance.
Student Didem Kalkan will vote for the leader of the opposition. He is not only troubled by the high cost and concern about whether he will find a job, but also the corruption and nepotism that reign under Erdogan: "Everyone first asks what is in it for his pocket. I am convinced that with Kilicdaroglu everyone will be where they deserve. That is why I hope" , says the student.
Jagmur Keskin sells herbs and herbs that he collects himself on the surrounding hills. He first points out his pride that perhaps a member of the Alevi ethnic group will become president, but immediately adds:
"First of all, I want the winner to improve the economic situation," says a young woman who will vote for only the second time. "And I also want many jobs to be created for young people. When we are struggling so much, we need to have something."
In addition to the opportunities for young people, Turkey's problem is that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
Džafer Toprak from Tunčeli is convinced that Kilicdaroglu is the right man for a fairer society. He knows the candidate personally, they went to the same school: "Kemal always brought his bread to school. But he never ate it alone, but always shared it."
And the opposition candidate knows what bothers people. These days, he posted a video on social media in which he said: "If you are poorer today than yesterday, the only reason is Erdogan."
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