May 14 polls a turning point for Türkiye, region: Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

Türkiye will be at a crossroads on May 14 when the millions of voters will cast their votes to elect the president and the Parliament, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, adding everyone in the region and in the world is focused on the Turkish elections.

“Clearly, all the elections are important but, the May 14 polls, both in terms of the [political] alliances [in Türkiye] and sensitivity of regional and global developments, have turned into a historical turning point,” Erdoğan said at an event in Istanbul over the weekend.

“This fact is seen not only by us but all those who have an assessment about Türkiye. All the evil networks, from terror organizations to global interest groups are focused on May 14,” he said.

Türkiye will go to simultaneous presidential and parliamentary polls on May 14 and Erdoğan is the presidential candidate of the People Alliance.

A new victory of the People Alliance will start a new era in the history of Türkiye and will prove the country’s leading place in the world, Erdoğan said, criticizing the oppositional alliance for allying with the terror organizations.

“I ask my people: Will there any benefit for our country from those who walk hand in hand with terror organizations?” Erdoğan stated, referring to the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP) decision not to appoint a candidate for presidential polls so that they can support the Nation Alliance’s contender, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

Differently from the opposition, Erdoğan said his sole focus is to serve the people and take care for the future of the people. “Our mere concern is not to dash the hopes of our people as well as all the oppressed [in the world]. We have no other objective than starting the construction of Century of Türkiye and keeping up its struggle for democracy and development,” he stated.

Healing the wounds of disaster

President Erdoğan stressed that the government is relentlessly exerting efforts to heal the wounds of the devastating earthquakes of Feb. 6 with plans to construct permanent homes for the victims within a year.

Slamming the opposition for trying to exploit the disaster for political gains, Erdoğan said “We can’t leave the fate of the country to the mercy of this remorseless mentality whose only focus is political gains.”

Erdoğan speaks with Putin on the phone

In the meantime, President Erdoğan held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A statement by the presidential communication office said the two leaders addressed the bilateral ties while Erdoğan thanked President Putin for his positive stance regarding the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

In his address over the weekend, Erdoğan recalled his phone exchange with Putin saying, “I have listened to him on how they follow the elections in Türkiye along with their appreciation of our mediation in the context of the Ukrainian war.”