Addressing more than 70,000 people in Kayseri in the country's Anatolian heartland on Thursday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated his pledge to address the country's inflation woes while lambasting the opposition, "which will probably see another round of infighting after the March 31 municipal elections."

Erdoğan has been campaigning ceaselessly for the upcoming local vote on behalf of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), drawing in thousands across dozens of provinces since January and promising to bring back what he calls "true service municipalism" and save Türkiye from a "whirlpool of failures."

"We are making every effort to further raise the welfare of our workers and pensioners by utilizing every means possible," Erdoğan told Kayseri residents, who, with 68%, overwhelmingly endorsed the president and his party in last May's elections.

Pointing to a recent past when the Republican People's Party (CHP) administrations failed to pay civil servants or pensioners, Erdoğan warned such a repeat of history was more than possible "if we leave the country into their hands."

He stressed that the People's Alliance, the AK Party-led election bloc with two other parties, was "the only political willpower that can accomplish this (development)."

"Just look at the state of the opposition," he said, referring to internal disarray between the CHP and its former allies fueled by resentment over last year's electoral defeat and bargaining over mayoral seats.

The CHP-led opposition alliance fell apart after losing presidential and legislative elections in May as the CHP's closest ally, the nationalist Good Party (IP), blamed ex-Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for the failure and promptly walked out. IP Chair Meral Akşener later rejected CHP Chair Özgür Özel's offer to form another alliance and fielded its own candidates, taking significant voter support with it.

Kılıçdaroğlu himself was ousted in a November 2023 vote from the CHP by Özel after refusing to resign for months on end. During his 13-year reign, the CHP failed to surpass a historic ceiling of 25% nationwide support, suffering eight election defeats in total.

"They have disappointed our people who supported them numerous times," Erdoğan said in Kayseri. "Millions of our people voted for the CHP with fresh hopes, but they lost not only the elections but their hopes, as well."

Erdoğan lamented that the CHP-run municipalities "deprived citizens of existing services for years, let alone bringing in new investments" and slammed the party as "a bunch of slackers who have no intention of developing themselves."

The AK Party promises to build disaster-resistant neighborhoods and prepare cities against climate change while implementing infrastructure compatible with digital technologies and projects to protect culture and bolster local administrations.

Cash scandal

"They are also yet to produce an explanation for that video of cash-counters," Erdoğan went on, referring to a potential bribery scandal that rocked the CHP earlier last week.

Turkish prosecutors are probing a controversial video showing three CHP officials counting piles of cash, allegedly TL 15 million ($470,000), at the party's Istanbul branch, which critics claimed was used to "buy" delegates in favor of Özel against Kılıçdaroğlu during the November intraparty vote.

The CHP denied the allegations, saying the money was for the purchase of the branch's new building in Istanbul in 2019, and the footage was from the camera of the office of a lawyer representing the property owner. The party blamed the lawyer for leaking the footage and insisted that the said lawyer tried to blackmail the party, though the footage did not have any "criminal actions."

Imamoğlu himself dismissed the claims that money was used for any nefarious purpose and said the video surfaced as an attempt by his adversaries looking to "bring him down before the election."

Erdoğan criticized the party for "thinking they can cover up this scandal by attacking left and right instead of offering an honest explanation."

"They're cozying up to certain people to win the election but even if that doesn't look very bright for them," Erdoğan added, referring to a "secret" alliance the CHP has with the Green Left Party (YSP), informally known as the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and a successor of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) broadly known for its ties to the PKK terrorist group.

Erdoğan argued the YSP's mainly Kurdish voter base was "bothered" by the YSP "offering their willpower up to the CHP in exchange for unknown returns."

"They cannot tolerate being subjected to insults, discrimination or racism because the CHP executives because of their preferences," he said.

The CHP is also accused of clandestinely dividing up mayoral districts for YSP candidates in metropolitan Istanbul in exchange for the YSP's indirect endorsement of its incumbent mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu, in upcoming polls, despite the YSP nominating its own mayoral candidate against Imamoğlu.

Erdoğan further criticized CHP mayors for "wasting their resources and boasting of not producing any projects, not building roads or tunnels or bridges," while he said, "The biggest danger that awaits their cities is earthquakes."

"This mentality that is interested in nothing beyond its own ambitions is a major misfortune for our country," Erdoğan said.

Alluding to increasing calls for another overhaul at the CHP over the power struggle between Özel and Imamoğlu, Erdoğan also argued a "new round of infighting awaits the opposition after March 31."

Tackling inflation

Turning to economic troubles in Türkiye, Erdoğan said the country was facing its "biggest battle against inflation and the mentality stoking high cost of living."

After winning reelection last May, Erdoğan installed a new economy administration that delivered aggressive tightening and unveiled a medium-term program aimed at arresting inflation, curbing chronic deficits, rebuilding foreign exchange reserves and stabilizing the Turkish lira.

He reaffirmed his administration's commitment to protecting workers, small businesses and pensioners against inflation, which rose to over 67% in February and is envisaged to peak by the middle of the year before entering what officials say would be a steep downward trend. The central bank sees year-end inflation at as low as 36%.

"We are determined to see this struggle to success, and we will do so without false numbers or fooling anyone but working, producing and increasing the cake," Erdoğan said, assuring that inflation would see a "sharp decline" starting in the second half of the year.

"As the burden of inflation and resources reserved for earthquake (rehabilitation) on budget eases, we will push our welfare levels even higher," he said.

Certain bans for the March 31 elections came into effect on Thursday. Broadcasting or publishing polls, surveys, predictions, and mini referendums to influence voters will be prohibited. The propaganda period ends on Saturday, March 30, for all competing parties, the Supreme Election Council (YSK) said Wednesday.

Erdoğan is expected to complete his campaign tour with two massive rallies this weekend, in Ankara on Saturday and in Istanbul on Sunday.