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Erdoğan draws crowds in weekend Turkish election rallies after pause

30 April 2023 20:43 (UTC +04:00)

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan boasts of his ability to “read” what the crowds say, APA reports citing the Daily Sabah.

The veteran politician who will face a seemingly united opposition in the May 14 elections reinvigorated his campaign trail with those crowds over the weekend.

After a few days of respite from intense campaigning due to a stomach bug, the Turkish president was apparently thrilled to reunite with supporters.

The skilled orator who led the country as prime minister and president for more than two decades, relies on the size of crowds he gathers in rallies, rather than surveys, as he recently said in an interview. “They told us to keep marching,” Erdoğan said in a recent interview.

His “march” at the weekend took him first to Izmir, Türkiye’s third-largest province. Lying on the Aegean coast, the province has long been a stronghold of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which currently holds the metropolitan municipality. At Gündoğdu Square, where Turkish pop megastar Tarkan drew about 100,000 fans for a concert last year, Erdoğan was surrounded by a crowd as much, waving Turkish flags. Photos and videos of the enormous crowd even irked supporters of the CHP whose leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu challenges Erdoğan in the presidential elections as his main contender. “What ... is going on?” a stunned pro-CHP Twitter user wrote as she shared a photo of the massive crowd. Some opposition supporters even claimed videos and photos of the rally were “Photoshopped, edited.”

"We were together with 360,000 people in Istanbul Yeşilköy today," Erdoğan told the fervent crowd. "There was a magnificent turnout. The youth know very well with whom to walk and to where and how." He had attended the Teknofest event at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport earlier. Erdoğan, recalled Kılıçdaroğlu's "Izmir deserves better," remarks. He pointed out the city's struggle with rain and flooding due to its infrastructure. "Izmir Metropolitan Municipality is in your hands. What happens to Izmir in every rain?"

Erdoğan noted the numerous projects and investments that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has brought to Izmir.

"How many hours did it (use to) take to arrive from Istanbul to Izmir? 7.5 hours. Now, it's three hours and 15 minutes," Erdoğan said. "We are the ones who opened these roads... What was our first job? We said, 'This airport does not suit Izmir.' Who built the Menderes Airport in Izmir? Mr. Kemal, where were you? We did it. Because it suited Izmir."

On Sunday, the president was at more familiar turf. In the capital Ankara’s “Public Garden” – one of many massive parks AK Party governments built across Türkiye – Erdoğan found another large crowd to rally.

Addressing the rally in Ankara, Erdoğan said, "May Allah not separate us," as he greeted the audience and sang an election song with them briefly. "We had a similarly large crowd in Izmir yesterday and I think this is good news for May 14," Erdoğan said.

The president said Kılıçdaroğlu pledged "better services" for big cities including Ankara, Izmir and Istanbul. "I wonder what they were doing these past years," he said, referring to the mayors nominated by the CHP running the three big cities.

With two weeks remaining for elections, Erdoğan and other candidates aim to step up the number of rallies but those which will stand out will be in Istanbul, Türkiye’s most populated city. Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu are expected to hold rallies on May 7 in the city, though the venues are undecided. Erdoğan is rumored to hold a rally in Yenikapı Square on the European side while Kılıçdaroğlu will likely rally supporters in Maltepe on the Asian side. Yenikapı has a symbolic value for Erdoğan as it was there he was joined by a large crowd, including Kılıçdaroğlu, for the “Democracy and Martyrs Rally” in August 2016, as a display of national solidarity following the foiled July 15 coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). Some media outlets, meanwhile, report that Erdoğan will hold the rally at Atatürk Airport Public Garden, the venue he attended Teknofest.