Türkiye’s most populated city Istanbul may also host the most crowded election rally if the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) can achieve its goal. Dubbed the "Rally of the Century," the gathering on May 7 will crown the campaign trail of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, one week before the elections.

The rally will be held at Atatürk Airport Public Garden, with the participation of the leaders of the People’s Alliance led by the AK Party. "Public Garden" is the common name given to large urban parks that flourished under AK Party governance. The airport, which is replaced by the new Istanbul Airport as the city’s new aviation hub, nowadays hosts major events like last week’s Teknofest.

Initially, the AK Party planned to hold the rally at Yenikapı, a square on the coast of the Marmara Sea that has hosted the notable "Democracy and Martyrs Rally" in the aftermath of the foiled coup attempt of 2016. Yet, the party decided to move it to its current location, which is far larger than Yenikapı. The AK Party hopes to convene "millions" in the rally, according to media outlets.

The party puts the final touches on the rally preparations from decorating the venue to arranging transportation of the party’s supporters from around the city.

Erdoğan, who will take on the opposition bloc’s Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as his main rival in May 14 elections, repeatedly said he trusts the size of crowds he may able to gather, rather than opinion polls for the outcome of elections. This is the most critical vote he faces as Erdoğan himself acknowledges. For Erdoğan and the AK Party, it is a chance to continue the path of the "Century of Türkiye," a visionary plan they unveiled last year. The "Century of Türkiye" involves ambitious steps the government takes and prepares to take, in various fields, from defense to rights and freedoms, at the centenary of the Republic of Türkiye and beyond.

The president, a skilled orator who led the country as prime minister and president for more than two decades, recently said the public told him and his party to "keep on marching" as he was asked his prediction of the election outcome.

Last week, the president surprised the opposition when a large crowd streamed into his rally in Izmir, a western Turkish province that has been traditionally the stronghold of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP). On Sunday, the president again addressed a large crowd in another election rally in the capital Ankara.