Rémi Trieau (correspondent in Türkiye)
One week before the second round of the presidential election in Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu are continuing their campaign. The speeches of the two candidates harden and the question of refugees is at the center of the debates. Sinan Ogan, the candidate eliminated in the first round, should soon give his voting instructions.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu have one week left to convince Turkish voters before the second round of the presidential election. With 49.52% of the vote, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan leaves with 2.5 million votes ahead of Social Democrat Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, a former senior civil servant and veteran politician. And during this between-two-rounds, the speeches of the two candidates harden, in particular on the question of immigration.
Sinan Ogan will give his voting instructions this week
Change of tone for Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu: the opponent hardens his speech on the Kurds of the PKK and especially on the migrants. “Erdoğan, you have accepted more than 10 million migrants. If you stay in power, 10 million more refugees will settle in Turkey. These fugitives will turn into a potential crime machine. As soon as I come to power, I will send these migrants home. Period,” said Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu during his last meeting.
Turkey has around 4 million Syrians on its territory, accepted by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the start of the Arab revolutions. The ultranationalist Sinan Ogan, who came third in the first round with more than 5% of the vote, led a xenophobic campaign. He has not yet given any voting instructions, but the opposition intends to convince its voters by making this second round a referendum for or against the refugees.