Turkey election: What do Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu have to offer?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will face opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the key presidential election run-off on Sunday.

Erdogan, who has ruled the country for more than 20 years, is favoured to win for five more years after he marginally missed victory in the first polls on May 14.The incumbent president received 49.5 percent of the votes, while Kilicdaroglu scored 44.8 percent in the first run. A third candidate, Sinan Ogan, who is an unfamiliar figure to the Turkish public, took 5.2 percent with the support of an ultranationalist alliance.

However, in an unforeseen political disagreement, Ogan opted to support Erdogan in the run-off while the ATA Alliance that backed him threw its weight behind Kilicdaroglu after reaching a deal.

The rise in nationalist votes in the first vote and the nationalistic nature of the third candidate and alliance have had a significant effect on election campaigning during the two-week interlude before the run-off.

The election agenda has visibly moved from the crisis-hit Turkish economy and relief from the February earthquakes that killed tens of thousands of people to topics such as “terrorism” and the fate of refugees in the country.Recep Tayyip Erdogan
‘Terror’: The president has consistently pursued sharp rhetoric against “terrorist” groups throughout the campaigning period, keeping security issues high on the agenda in an apparent attempt to attract nationalist votes.
He frequently claimed his opponent is supported by “terror” groups such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged war since the 1980s for autonomy, and the Gulen movement, Erdogan’s former ally turned arch-enemy accused of a 2016 coup attempt.Throughout his campaign, Erdogan has said his government will crush these groups.

“Our fight against all evil networks, including the separatist terrorist organisation PKK and its extensions will continue with determination,” he said in a public address earlier in the week, adding the PKK “could not move” in Turkey any more because of his efforts.

Refugees: Erdogan has promised to return some one million Syrian refugees to their homeland after implementing housing projects in Turkey-controlled northern Syria, without giving a specific timeline.
He also said improving dialogue between Syria and Turkey through Russian mediation efforts will help increase the “voluntary” return of refugees.

Erdogan has often accused the opposition of being discriminatory against the refugees in the country, which, according to official numbers, hosts 3.4 million of them.

Kilicdaroglu “is trying to save the day with hate speech”, the president said in a recent interview.

Economy: Erdogan has pledged to continue with his unorthodox economic policies, including keeping interest rates low despite hyperinflation and a cost-of-living crisis.
He has said he aims to pull the inflation level down to 20 percent in 2023 and below 10 percent in 2024, but added his government would keep decreasing interest rates.

“I have a thesis that interest rates and inflation are directly proportional,” he repeated after the May 14 polls. “The more you lower interest rates, the lower the inflation rate. My theory here is that interest is the cause, inflation is the effect.”

Earthquake relief: Erdogan has promised to provide quake survivors in southeastern Turkey with home loans with a 20-year maturity and a two-year grace period.
His government aims to build a total of 650,000 new flats in the region and promised to deliver 319,000 of these in one year.