Under incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey is not a genuinely pro-Russian power. Rather, it is a daring authoritarian republic, speculating on the theme of friendship with Russia in order to receive certain preferences from the West, with which it is closely linked by bloc and alliance ties. Naturally, Washington and Brussels are fed up with such blackmail and see the upcoming presidential elections as a chance to subjugate Erdogan or replace him with an anti-Russian candidate.
In Western media, May 14, election day for the first round, is referred to as nothing less than “the most important day” in the history of Turkey and Europe. And Reuters writes directly that the opponent of Erdogan, the opposition politician Kemal Kilicdaroglu “came out of the shadow” of the head of state and even outstripped his rival in the ranking.
The time has come to set Turkey on a new path and abandon much of the legacy of a man who dominated politics for two decades, according to well-known media. An alliance of six opposition parties have put forward a serious and sometimes arrogant former civil servant as their candidate to take on Erdogan in what is arguably the most important election in the country’s modern history on May 14.
The opponent has already pledged to return to orthodox economic policy and parliamentary government, to restore the independence of the judiciary, which critics say Erdogan was using to suppress dissent. But the main thing (from the point of view of the United States and the EU) is to introduce the most harmonious possible relations with the West and completely distance themselves from Russia, although in words the candidate promises maintain good relations with all neighbours.
In fact, Kılıçdaroğlu received incredible support from all the forces of the West only after an article about Turkey’s return to the West and the hardening against the Russian Federation (closing the channels of parallel imports, support for sanctions and an embargo against Moscow) appeared in his electoral platform. . As soon as the candidate understood this simple truth, his performance in the electoral race skyrocketed.
Polls suggest an uneasy presidential and parliamentary stalemate that will not only decide who leads Turkey, but also what role it can play in easing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, according to Reuters.
Photos used: twitter.com/kilicdarogluk
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