Attacks on Turkish democracy, elections and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan himself in recent years have amplified Türkiye's distrust of the West, according to the country’s Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın.
“Verbal attacks from some politicians in Europe and the U.S., criticism of our policy of abstaining from Western sanctions against Russia due to its war on Ukraine and unkept promises on EU membership and visa-free travel in Türkiye-EU ties have caused this,” Kalın said Thursday in an interview with German weekly Die Zeit on the upcoming Turkish elections and Ankara’s foreign policies.
Referring to Erdoğan’s remarks that the West would “get on May 14 the message that we don’t care about what they have to say,” Kalın claimed the president meant Türkiye is “focusing on its own elections and ignoring what other countries are saying.”
The spokesperson argued the West was now growing more and more “strange” to the rest of the world, “losing control in many matters like the war in Ukraine, relations with China, migration, the war on terror and the shift of the world’s center of economic gravity from the West to the East.”
“I believe most of the Western circles are lacking strategic thinking. Will Europe trail in the U.S.’ footsteps in every matter? Or will Europe develop its own thinking, own economy and defense policy?” Kalın mused.
Reiterating Ankara’s “full support” to Ukraine’s territorial integrity and opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kalın argued that there were “different answers” from various countries to the question of how to deal with war.
“Some nations are too aggressive toward Russia and China,” he said, emphasizing “the discord” in the West about “how to deal” with the two countries.
“Türkiye sees this aggressive attitude and is very concerned about it,” Kalın stressed.
Türkiye is a part of NATO and wants to join the EU but “also a relationship of equality based on mutual interest and respect.”
“Europe is our biggest trade partner and we want to preserve this and increase our commercial ties but we also believe Türkiye was subjected to many injustices in the past,” Kalın said.
Pointing out that Türkiye became the only country to join the Customs Union without becoming an EU member, Kalın said, “I hope we will enter the EU someday but if this doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world.”
Turning to Türkiye’s mediator role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Kalın dismissed the claim that Ankara had “no other option” in taking up the post.
“Sometimes people don’t understand our relationship with Russia. They think we’re like-minded with Moscow about everything but that’s not the case,” he stressed.
Recalling Türkiye’s rejection of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, he informed that Ankara discussed the issue with the Russians “many times.”
The two countries disagree over Syria, with Ankara strongly condemning and refusing the recognize President Bashar Assad’s regime, and disapproving of the Wagner Group’s activities in Mali, Libya and Ukraine.
Despite all these divisions, Ankara finds a way to compromise an agreement and build friendly ties with Moscow, Kalın explained.
“Foreign policy is not a game of zero-sum for us. Just because we are a NATO member and want to join the EU doesn’t mean we can’t have good economic or political relations with Russia, China and Gulf countries,” he stressed. “Just because we’re doing trade with Russia and China doesn’t mean we will quit trade with Europe either. Türkiye doesn’t want to be dependent on any country.”
As for the much-anticipated presidential and parliamentary polls slated on May 14, Kalın claimed that Erdoğan’s government’s achievements in the past two decades would be the driving force of his reelection.
“Türkiye is much stronger compared to 20 years ago,” he noted, listing the advances in infrastructure, new technologies, an increase in the share of renewable energies and most recently the discovery of a massive natural gas deposit in the Black Sea.
Under Erdoğan, no major political or economic crises befell Türkiye like the ones that brought the country to its knees in the 1970s, '80s or '90s, Kalın argued.
He acknowledged soaring inflation as “a real problem” and “the only exception.”
“The high cost of living is a problem and we’re currently fighting it but you can see inflation going down. Our economists too are saying it will continue declining in the next four to six months,” Kalın said.
When asked what happens if prices jump back up after the election, Kalın said: “To the contrary, I believe the downward trend in inflation will continue if Erdoğan wins.”
Erdoğan, who carried his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to 15 successive victories in the past two decades, has been criticized for his unorthodox economic policies implemented for the “Turkish economic model” launched in 2021.
According to data from the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT), inflation plunged to 43.7% in April after touching its peak of 85.5% in October.
In packed rallies on his campaign trail across the country, Erdoğan has vowed to combat rampant inflation and compensate for the loss of welfare.
“It was the AK Party that raised the standards in every field and it will be AK Party again that can beat the cost-of-living crisis,” he assured.
Kalın believes foreign investors that exited Türkiye after the new economy model will be returning after the elections as the government will be installing more measures to lower inflation and keep the Turkish lira stable.
He conceded some investors are “probably waiting to see the election outcome," saying: “But this is a cycle and we will soon be out of high inflation.”
Regarding opinion polls placing Erdoğan trailing after his main challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Kalın remarked: “This is a democratic race, and it’s yet to be over.”
Erdoğan’s last election victory was in 2018 with a landslide 52.6% of the vote, which Kalın claimed was a “success story that will continue this year, as well.”
“We’re confident people will continue voting for Erdoğan with a crushing majority but as I said, this is a democratic race and other candidates are leading their own campaigns. This is good. The decision is up to the electorate,” he noted.
The May 14 elections will be critical for Türkiye but they are taking place under the shadow of two massive earthquakes that leveled thousands of buildings and killed over 50,000 people in its southeast on Feb. 6.
Over 3 million people were displaced by the disaster but the government has been working to restore the quake-stricken provinces, with Erdoğan promising 319,000 homes within the year.
The election body too has assessed a sound election was possible in the region and set up voting stations, assuring victims that relocated to other cities could cast their ballot wherever they chose.
The sheer scale of the disaster and anger over a delayed response, however, has caused some to question the tendencies of the quake-hit electorate, especially in cities like Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep, which overwhelmingly supported Erdoğan in past elections.
Erdoğan himself acknowledged shortcomings in the early days of the disaster but has since assured the situation was quickly brought under control.
According to Kalın, the people in the region expect the government to rebuild their homes and know “Erdoğan is the right person who can do that.”
“We have always had a lot of political support in all earthquake-hit cities and I don’t see that support declining. To the contrary, our citizens feel that Erdoğan is the only one who can provide this (recovery),” Kalın maintained.
As for the opposition’s concerns that the government wouldn’t accept a potential defeat, Kalın pointed out that Erdoğan has “never once questioned the result of the 17 elections he entered the past 21 years” and assured: “We will respect the outcome no matter what it is.”
“A (Donald) Trump or (Jair) Bolsonaro scenario is out of the question. Erdoğan believes in the willpower of the people,” Kalın concluded.