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Opposition’s vow ‘admission of defeat’, Erdoğan says in campaign finale
Opposition’s vow ‘admission of defeat’, Erdoğan says in campaign finale
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that his main opponent’s vow to camp outside the headquarters of Turkey’s election commission after the June 24 election was an “admission of defeat.” Click through for the story in photos...
While the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) presidential candidate Muharrem İnce in the last days of campaigning opted to hold a single mass rally a day in Turkey’s three major cities, Erdoğan has been holding a sequence of smaller but well-attended rallies in Istanbul. He concluded his campaign with a rally in Istanbul’s Küçükçekmece district on June 23 afternoon.
"God willing, tomorrow evening we will be able to experience this happiness together," Erdoğan told in his rally in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district. "Are you ready to bring victory?"
Erdoğan lashed out at İnce, who has vowed to camp outside the headquarters of Turkey’s election commission June 24 to ensure a fair count. "Mr Muharrem, we are living in a state of law," he said, adding "all measures" had been taken for voting security.
He also sought to ridicule İnce, a former physics teacher who has never held state office despite being an MP for 16 years, for his lack of experience. "It’s one thing to be a physics teacher, it’s another thing to run a country," said Erdogan. "Being president needs experience. A president needs recognition from the international community."
Turks vote on June 24 in snap twin presidential and parliamentary elections called by Erdoğan one-and-a-half years ahead of schedule, with the president seeking a first round victory for a new mandate and a strong parliamentary majority.
More than 59 million Turkish citizens, including some 3 million living abroad, are eligible to vote Sunday.
It’s the first time they’ll be voting for president and parliament at the same time - a change approved last year by a referendum that switched Turkey’s governance system to an executive presidency.
Six candidates are running for president and eight parties have fielded candidates for 600 parliamentary seats.
Five of those parties will also run as part of two competing electoral alliances: The "People Alliance" by Erdoğan’s ruling party and a nationalist party versus the "Nation Alliance" by the leading secular opposition, a nascent center-right party and an Islamic-leaning party.
Photos: Demirören News Agency, Anadolu Agency, AFP, Associated Press and Reuters
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