On final day of campaign, Erdogan accuses Turkish opposition of working with Biden

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan held his last election rallies in Istanbul on Saturday, accusing the opposition of working with US President Joe Biden to topple him while making a final appeal ahead of the biggest challenge to his 20-year rule.

Polls show Erdogan trailing the main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu a day ahead of one of the most consequential elections in Turkey’s modern history. However, if neither of them win more than 50% of the vote and secure an outright win, the vote will go to a runoff on May 28.

Voters will also elect a new parliament, likely a tight race between the People’s Alliance comprising Erdogan’s conservative Islamist-rooted AK Party (AKP) and the nationalist MHP and others, and Kilicdaroglu’s Nation Alliance formed of six opposition parties, including his secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP), established by Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Polls will open at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and close at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT). By late on Sunday there could be a good indication of whether there will be a runoff vote for the presidency.

Erdogan’s campaign over the past month has focused on his government’s achievements in the defence industry and infrastructure projects, and his assertion that the opposition would roll back such developments.

One of his talking points has been that the opposition is receiving orders from the West, and that they will bow down to Western nations’ wishes if elected.

At a rally in Istanbul’s Umraniye district, Erdogan recalled comments made by US President Joe Biden and published by the New York Times in January 2020, when he was campaigning for the White House. At that time, Biden said Washington should encourage Erdogan’s opponents to defeat him electorally, stressing he should not be ousted in a coup.

The comments, which resurfaced later that year in a video that made Biden the most popular topic on Twitter in Turkey, were condemned by Ankara at the time as “interventionist.”

“Biden gave the order to topple Erdogan, I know this. All my people know this,” said Erdogan, 69. “If that is the case, then the ballots tomorrow will give a response to Biden too,” he added.