Erdoğan’s World - Turkey and Its President | DW Documentary

May 29, 2023 | President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been in power for 20 years. Turkey has become increasingly autocratic under his rule, his critics are persecuted. We travel through Erdoğan’s Turkey, meeting both supporters and opponents of the head of state.

The devastating earthquake on February 6 that killed around 45,000 people has damaged Erdoğan’s reputation. His government is accused of mismanaging the disaster and, above all, of allowing corruption in the construction sector. Thousands of homes were built by crooked developers who paid little attention to safety standards.

Yet the president still enjoys a lot of support in the country, in spite of the corruption, high inflation and his autocratic leadership style. Erdoğan’s policies are a combination of economic liberalism, Islamism and nationalism and he appeals to many Turks’ patriotism and religious sentiments. Long claiming to be a Muslim democrat, he has gradually Islamized Turkey, in spite of its secular constitution. In order to remain unchallenged in his rule, Erdoğan has largely suppressed press freedom. According to Reporters Without Borders, Turkey is one of the most repressive countries in the world for journalists.

Turkish Election Victory for Erdogan Leaves Nation Divided - BBC News

May 29, 2023 | Recep Tayyip Erdogan's supporters are celebrating after Turkey's long-time president won Sunday's vote, securing another five years in power. "The entire nation of 85 million won," he told cheering crowds outside his enormous palace on the edge of Ankara. But his call for unity sounded hollow as he ridiculed his opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu - and took aim at a jailed Kurdish leader and the LGBT community. The opposition leader denounced "the most unfair election in recent years".

Re-electing Erdogan into office is tantamount to ‘turkeys voting for Christmas’! (Please excuse the pun!) Clearly, Turks show every sign of being masochists. Good luck to Turks in the coming years! In the next five years, they are going to need all the luck they can get. Erdogan believes in using low interest rates to fight inflation; he believes in allowing extremely high inflation to run rampant and thus allowing people's savings to be seriously depleted; he believes in shutting down free speech; he believes in jailing his opponents; he believes in denying LGBTQ+ people their human rights; and he believes in denying women their rights, too. Yet so many Turks are able to rejoice over his re-election into high office. Go figure! – © Mark Alexander

The world's headless chickens react to Erdogan’s re-election: Click here.

Es ist rätselhaft, daß in der Türkei auch nach all den wirtschaftlichen und politischen Schwierigkeiten, zum Beispiel, unerhört hohen Teuerung und unfassbar niedrigen Zinsen, welche die Ersparnisse der Türken schnell wegschnitzen, ist Erdogan wiedergewählt worden. Zudem sind die Rechte der Türken auch ebenso schnell weggestohlen worden, Rechte wie Frauenrechte und Schwulenrechte. Erdogan hat die Präsidentschaftswahl trotzdem gewonnen. Dieser Gewinn ist wirklich schwer zu verstehen; und vermutlich für viele Türken auch ebenso schwer zu verdauen! – © Mark Alexander

Erdoğan and His Hardline Allies Have Won Turkey – Women and LGBTQ+ People Will Pay the Price

THE GUARDIAN: For civil society and rights defenders, five more years of the Turkish president and his radical backers are a daunting prospect

Supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan celebrating his election victory in Istanbul, 28 May 2023. Photograph: Yasin Akgül/AFP/Getty Images
On Sunday, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was declared the winner of Turkey’s presidential runoff elections. According to numbers reported by the state-owned Anadolu news agency, more than 27 million voters cast their ballots in favour of Erdoğan, who has been at the country’s helm for more than two decades. He entered the second round in the lead in the polls, and was expected by most to emerge victorious. Although Erdoğan captured slightly more than half of the vote, more than 25 million people also mobilised to vote against him.

The elections were being held under deeply unfair conditions, with an opposition set up to fail. Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, was recently sentenced to more than two years in prison and banned from holding public office for insulting members of the supreme election council. This left the opposition unable to nominate its maybe most promising candidate. This was all amid biased media coverage, relentless smear campaigns against the eventual opposition candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, threats, manipulation and a crackdown on civil society, such as the arrest of 126 Kurdish lawyers, activists and politicians at the end of April in Diyarbakır. » | Constanze Letsch | Monday, May 29, 2023

What Erdogan's Win Means for Turkey and the World | DW News

May 29, 2023 | President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won an election runoff to begin a third decade in power. Turkey's long-serving leader won 52 percent of the vote, despite facing the biggest challenge to his rule. His rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, called the election unfair, without disputing the outcome. He'd promised to restore democratic norms if elected, and increasingly veered to an anti-migrant platform in the final days of campaigning.

Erdogan Declares Victory in Turkey's Runoff Election | DW News

May 28, 2023 | Turkey's incumbent president has declared victory in historic run-off elections. Unofficial results from state-run and independent news agencies put Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the lead.

The state-run Anadolu agency puts Erdogan on just over 52 percent of the vote with more than 99 percent of the ballot boxes opened. His challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a secular former civil servant, is at just under 48 percent.


Related articles in German, French and English here.

Knapper Sieg Erdogans zeichnet sich ab

TÜRKEI-WAHL
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Sowohl bei staatlichen als auch bei oppositionsnahen Medien liegt Erdogan vorn. Das spricht dafür, dass der Amtsinhaber siegen könnte. Aber Kilicdaroglu gibt sich noch nicht geschlagen.

Bei der Präsidentenwahl in der Türkei zeichnet sich ein knapper Wahlsieg des Amtsinhabers Recep Tayyip Erdogan ab. Die staatliche Nachrichtenagentur Anadolu sah ihn nach Auszählung von 94 Prozent der Wahlurnen mit 52,4 Prozent zu 47,6 Prozent in Führung. Die unabhängige Agentur Anka, die als oppositionsnah gilt, meldete für Erdogan eine knappe Führung von 51,4. Den Herausforderer Kemal Kilicdaroglu sah sie bei 48,6 Prozent nach Auszählung von 96 Prozent der Wahlurnen. » | Von Friederike Böge. Politische Korrespondentin für die Türkei, Iran, Afghanistan und Pakistan mit Sitz in Ankara | Sonntag, 28. Mai 2023

Erdogan bleibt Präsident: Der türkische Präsident hat die Stichwahl gewonnen. Nach Angaben verschiedener Medien lag er nach Auszählung fast aller Stimmen mit rund 52 Prozent vorn. Das Oppositionsbündnis steht nun vor einer Zerreißprobe. »

IN ENGLISH:

Turkey's Erdogan Leads Opposition After Runoff Election With Nearly All Ballots Counted: The head of the High Election Board said at a press conference that Erdogan was leading challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu with 54.47 percent support »

President Erdogan Wins Re-Election in Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s paramount politician for 20 years, defeated the opposition candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, according to unofficial results published by state media. The election was the biggest challenge of his political career. »

EN FRANÇAIS :

Présidentielle en Turquie, en direct : Erdogan réélu président par sa victoire sur Kemal Kiliçdaroglu lors du second tour : L’agence Anadolu donne Recep Tayyip Erdogan devant son adversaire, avec 52,11 % des voix contre 47,89 % pour Kemal Kiliçdaroglu. »

Erdoğan Hands Banknotes to Supporters outside Turkish Polling Station

May 28, 2023 | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave out money at a polling station where he cast his ballot in Turkey's presidential election runoff. The incumbent head of state handed out banknotes worth 200 lira (£8) while shaking hands with supporters. The polling stations opened for the second round of the presidential election in which Erdoğan hopes to see off a challenge from rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Polls open in Turkish election runoff as Erdoğan hopes to retain power.

Turkey Election Goes to Runoff after Erdoğan Takes Girst-round Lead

THE GUARDIAN: Neither the president nor his rival Kılıçdaroğlu secured more than 50% of vote in closely fought national poll

Turkey’s presidential election is going to a runoff after Recep Tayyip Erdoğan comfortably defeated his chief rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu but failed to clear the 50% vote threshold needed to avoid a second round.

The 69-year-old conservative incumbent confounded pollsters’ predictions and his secular rival to win the first round of the country’s pivotal election, scoring 49.51% against Kılıçdaroğlu’s 44.88% with a small number of overseas votes left to count. The runoff will take place on 28 May.

Ahmet Yener, the head of the Supreme Electoral Board, said on Monday that even when the remaining 35,874 uncounted overseas votes were distributed, no one would secure the majority needed to win the elections outright. » | Jon Henley and agencies | Monday, May 15, 2023

LIRE AUSSI :

Elections en Turquie : Recep Tayyip Erdogan et Kemal Kiliçdaroglu s’affronteront lors d’un second tour présidentiel inédit : Le dernier comptage, portant sur près de 99,9 % des urnes, accorde 49,5 % des suffrages au chef de l’Etat sortant, au pouvoir depuis vingt ans, contre 44,9 % à son rival social-démocrate, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu. »

LESEN SIE AUCH :

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan und Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu gehen in die Stichwahl: Der türkische Amtsinhaber Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hat bei der Präsidentschaftswahl am Sonntag die absolute Mehrheit verfehlt. Am 28. Mai wird es nun eine Stichwahl geben. »

Turkey Faces Runoff Election with Erdogan Leading

May 15, 2023 | Turkey is headed for a runoff vote after President Tayyip Erdogan led over his opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Sunday's election but fell short of an outright majority to extend his 20-year rule.

Nail-Biter Turkish Election Heads for Round 2 as Majority Eludes Erdogan: After two decades in power, a struggling Recep Tayyip Erdogan has two more weeks to persuade Turkish voters that he should continue as president. »

Turkish election set to go to runoff as Erdoğan attempts to claim victory: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ahead of rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu but falling short of 50% needed to avoid second round »

Early Results Show Erdogan Leading in Turkey’s Elections

May 14, 2023 | Early results are in after polls closed in Turkey’s elections. President Erdogan is shown in the lead after more than 50 percent of the votes counted, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. If no candidate secures more than half the votes in the first round of voting, a May 28 run-off will be held.

Turkey Prepares to Vote in Knife-edge Elections in Wake of Earthquake Destruction - BBC News

May 14, 2023 | Turks are voting in the most pivotal elections in their modern history, to decide if Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains president after 20 years in power. His main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, promises to scrap many of the powers acquired by President Erdogan after he survived a failed coup in 2016. The BBC’s Anna Foster talks about how people in Turkey can cast their votes in an earthquake destruction zone

LIRE :

Jour de vote de Turquie : « Les gens sont fatigués de l’agressivité ambiante, il nous faut autre chose » : Les Turcs doivent décider s’ils confient un nouveau mandat à Recep Tayyip Erdogan, au pouvoir depuis deux décennies, ou bien s’ils élisent son adversaire, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, et tournent la page de l’islamo-conservatisme. »

Inside Story: Can the Turkish Opposition Unseat President Erdogan?

May 9, 2023 | It's an important election that could change more than just the head of state. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hoping to extend his term after more than 20 years in power. But recent opinion polls suggest he's not the outright favourite. High inflation and a perceived slow response to devastating earthquakes have hit his popularity. Some voters are turning to a new candidate. So, what does that mean for Turkish politics - and the economy?

Presenter: Imran Khan
Guests: Onur Erim - President of Dragoman Strategies, a defence think tank and author of a book on Turkiye's election system
Robert Pearson - Turkish foreign policy specialist and former U.S. ambassador in Ankara
Sinan Ulgen - Chairman of the Center for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies and a former Turkish diplomat

‘We’re against LGBT’: Erdoğan Targets Gay and Trans People ahead of Critical Turkish Election

THE GUARDIAN: Scant progress for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights in peril ahead of polls as president’s ‘family values’ rhetoric stokes culture war

At campaign rallies across Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has missed no opportunity to attack gay and trans people. “We are against the LGBT,” he told one rally near the Black Sea. “Family is sacred to us – a strong family means a strong nation.”

At another rally earlier this month, Erdoğan accused every party in Turkey’s opposition coalition of being LGBT.

When Turkish voters go to the polls in parliamentary and presidential elections on 14 May, LGBTQ+ rights as well as women’s rights will be on the ballot. Erdoğan has withdrawn Turkey from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul convention on violence against women and pushed a conservative vision of family values while attacking groups that defend women and queer rights.

For many Turkish women and the LGBTQ+ community, the forthcoming vote represents a stark choice. They say Erdoğan’s re-election risks further fuelling a culture war that he and his supporters have done much to inflame, empowering institutions to crack down on anyone seen as different and to turn a blind eye to a statewide problem of violence against women, gay and trans people. » | Ruth Michaelson and Deniz Barış Narlı | Friday, May 12, 2023

LIRE AUSSI :

« La défaite d’Erdogan à la présidentielle turque est secrètement souhaitée à Paris, Berlin ou Washington » : L’hypothèse d’une alternance à Ankara, longtemps illusoire, est désormais prise au sérieux par les Occidentaux, explique, dans sa chronique, Philippe Ricard, journaliste au « Monde ». »

Une élection cruciale pour la Turquie et au-delà : Après vingt ans d’un pouvoir sans partage, Recep Tayyip Erdogan brigue un troisième mandat présidentiel, lors des élections prévues dimanche 14 mai. Sa défaite marquerait un nouveau départ pour la population, qui gagnerait en libertés, et un renouveau dans les relations avec l’Union européenne et les Etats-Unis. »

The Guardian View on Turkey’s Election: An End to Erdoğan’s Authoritarianism?

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: A neck-and-neck race could conclude the president’s two decades in power, with profound consequences for the country

Few elections have been more closely contested or more important than those taking place in Turkey on Sunday. Voters face a stark choice which will not only define their country’s future, but reverberate more widely. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been part of a broader global shift towards authoritarianism. His defeat, after 20 years in power, could allow Turkey to move back towards democracy and greater freedom – the pledge which unites the multiparty opposition Nation’s Alliance. Another victory for him might see it slide into outright autocracy – leading to the destruction of essential institutions and civil society, already badly damaged by the assaults of the president and his Justice and Development party (AKP). » | Editorial | Thursday, May 11, 2023

Will Young Voters' Desire for Change Oust Erdogan? | DW News

May 9, 2023 | Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will face off against three other candidates on Sunday in presidential and parliamentary elections. It's expected to be a tight race - but there's one group of voters who could prove decisive: and thats the under 25s. DW Correspondent Julia Hahn took to the streets in Istanbul to find out what kind of govenrment young people are hoping for.

ARTICLES RELATED TO THE UPCOMING ELECTION:

Turkish presidential candidate quits race after release of alleged sex tape: Muharrem İnce pulls out just days from close election race saying alleged sex tape is deepfake »

Turkey’s choice could not be starker: more cruelty under Erdoğan, or the return of justice and hope: The country could finally tear off the straitjacket it has worn for years. But its president is a tiger caught by the tail – what will he do if he loses? »

Related.

Turkey: Erdogan's Challenger Kilicdaroglu Pledges 'True Democracy' ahead of Election | DW News

May 10, 2023 | Turkish presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu told DW that he and his six-party alliance would "fulfill people's longing for democracy" and would "turn towards the West" in foreign policy matters if successful at the polls on Sunday.

"We will fulfill people's longing for democracy. That's the biggest change and it won't only be seen here in Turkey but by the whole world," Kilicdaroglu told DW. "We will bring true democracy to this country."

Polls suggest that the Nation Alliance with Kilicdaroglu as the candidate — long the leader of the center-left CHP, Turkey's second-largest political party after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP — could pose the biggest threat to Erdogan in his 20 years in power.

Turkey President Erdogan Cancels Election Campaign Appearances - BBC News

Apr 27, 2023 | Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cancelled scheduled appearances on his election campaign for the second day running after seeming to fall ill during a live TV show on Tuesday evening. The president apologised after the programme went off-air for 20 minutes and said that he had an upset stomach. The president tweeted yesterday morning saying that he had been advised by his doctors to take “a day’s rest”.

The Observer View on Why Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Does Not Deserve Another Term in Office

THE OBSERVER – EDITORIAL: Voters suffering from the president’s terrible economic policies might have finally had enough

Courts in Turkey generally bow to the wishes of the country’s authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. This is unsurprising, given his purges of judges and prosecutors during his two decades in power. So last week’s court verdict sentencing Istanbul’s popular opposition mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, to more than two years in jail and banning him from public life followed a familiar pattern.

That this decision was politically motivated goes without saying. Little of importance happens in Erdoğan’s Turkey without his direction or consent. In short, a working-class populist who began life as a reformer fighting for social justice has developed into a cantankerous, dictatorial bully.

For Erdoğan, politics is personal – and İmamoğlu represents possibly the biggest threat to his re-election hopes in next year’s presidential poll. İmamoğlu has already bested the president once. In 2019, he triumphed in Istanbul’s re-run mayoral contest after Erdoğan’s ruling AKP party refused, Trump-like, to accept his initial victory. » | Observer editorial | Sunday, December 18, 2022

At Least Six Dead in Explosion on Central Istanbul Street, Says Erdoğan

THE GUARDIAN: Turkish president says 53 people injured in ‘treacherous attack’ on İstiklal Avenue

Six people have been killed and 53 injured after an explosion rocked Istanbul’s popular pedestrian thoroughfare İstiklal Avenue, in an apparent bomb attack that Turkey’s president described as an act of terrorism.

Speaking shortly before departing for Tuesday’s G20 summit in Bali, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke of a “treacherous attack”, adding: “Those responsible will be punished.”

Erdogan said investigations were continuing but initial reports suggested an act of terrorism. “The first information provided to us by the [Istanbul] governor suggests this was an act of terrorism. We detected that a woman played a role. The work continues,” he said. With video » | Ruth Michaelson in Istanbul, Philip Oltermann and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad | Sunday, November 13, 2022

Bread for the People I ARTE.tv Documentary

For months Turkey has been in the grip of a monetary crisis coupled with rampant inflation. The price of bread, by far the most important staple food in the country, has doubled in a year. Even the middle class is now finding it increasingly difficult to get by.

Bread for the People | ARTE.tv Documentary
Available until the 05/09/2023


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