Runoff campaigns to target 1st round abstainers

ANKARA

Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Nation Alliance’s candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu are both expected to target around 8 million citizens who chose not to vote on May 14 after failing to pass the 50 percent vote threshold in the first ballot and prompting the second round.

Both leaders targeted the youth in their social media posts shared at the very beginning of their second-round campaigns, with Erdoğan addressing them, “I am proud of you. You are our hope, the apple of our eye, the guarantee of our bright future.”

The president urged them “not to allow anyone to come between you and your dreams, to intimidate you, to scare you, or to inject their own poison into you.”

Touching upon the economic difficulties faced by the youth, Kılıçdaroğlu said, “You even have to think for a coffee. Your joy of life has been stolen. Yet youth is carefree. They didn’t let you experience this even for a day.”

Moreover, around 47,000 people who were not old enough to vote in the first round were added to the target group of young voters.

A tough two-week awaits both leaders as they will try to consolidate their grassroots and, at the same time, bring around 8 million citizens who didn’t cast vote in the first round to the polls on May 28.

Accordingly, Kılıçdaroğlu frequently urges the youth and women to cast ballots in the second round. He is also expected to raise a strong voice in the fight against terrorism as part of the negotiations with nationalist Ata Alliance’s candidate Sinan Oğan, who received more than 5 percent of the votes.

Meanwhile, Erdoğan said earlier this week he does not plan to hold rallies for the second round of presidential elections but will hold rally-like meetings in the earthquake-hit provinces.

Likewise, Kılıçdaroğlu is also expected to carry out his campaign by visiting strategic points, especially in the quake zone, where he plans to give strong messages.