Public broadcaster TRT released campaign speeches of presidential candidates and representatives of political parties ahead of the May 14 elections, as part of the country's formal election schedule.
The four candidates made their penultimate call to the voters on the broadcaster Sunday evening as part of a longstanding tradition. They will appear one last time in the time slots allocated to them on May 13.
Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who seeks to renew his tenure against the strongest opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), urged the electorate to “choose the 'Century of Türkiye.'”
Erdoğan built his election campaign on the slogan based on a visionary action plan he unveiled last year for a string of reforms, from economy and defense to education and rights and freedoms.
“Choose trust and prevalence of stability,” Erdoğan told the millions of voters, reiterating a theme in his campaign that focuses on the accomplishments of his government in the past two decades. Erdoğan is the longest-serving leader since the inception of the Republic of Türkiye a century ago, either as prime minister or president. “Make your choice for the future of your children,” he pleaded to the voters, adding that, “Nobody will lose when we win.”
“We took on the responsibility given to us by citizens in all 15 elections we’ve been to. We overcame every challenge in this difficult process thanks to your support and prayers,” he told the nation.
“We certainly had our shortcomings and made mistakes but nobody can deny that we strived to provide services and new projects, sincerely,” he said. Erdoğan cited reforms they carried out in the past 21 years. “Our true accomplishment is a historic change of mindset. This was a revolution that embraced every citizen who felt excluded because of their faith and ethnicity. Each citizen became an inseparable part of Türkiye,” he said.
“Nobody questions the ethnicity of Aziz Sancar, Uğur Şahin, Rıza Kayaalp or Selçuk Bayraktar,” he said, referring to a Nobel laureate, a COVID-19 vaccine developer, a champion wrestler and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developer, respectively.
“Through the same mindset, we are preparing to build the 'Century of Türkiye' dream, and we call upon everyone to join us to achieve this dream,” he said.
Erdoğan said that the nation was well aware of what they have been through to achieve their dreams. “We always considered the peace of mind for our nation, for our country while we fought to save our country from the clutch of tutelage (of putsch-minded elements), bloody hands of the terrorist groups and traps set up by economic hitmen,” he said.
Other candidates making their propaganda speeches unanimously devoted part of their slots to criticize TRT, claiming they were not given equal time in coverage of their election campaigns.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the candidate for Nation Alliance comprising six parties, accused TRT of being a “broadcaster of the ruling party,” before delving into “true stories” of people, from “(Mr.) Ibrahim whose electricity was cut off because he could not pay bills,” to “family of a miner died in Bartın,” to Tayfun Kahraman, a man jailed in a trial over 2013 Gezi Park riots Kılıçdaroğlu earlier pledged to “release” if he wins. “This is the election of 85 million people. You won’t vote for me on May 14, you will vote for justice,” he said.
Muharrem Ince, head of Homeland Party (MP), echoed Kılıçdaroğlu’s sentiment toward TRT before launching a salvo of accusations against the government. He accused the government of turning the state institutions into “dysfunctional” bodies and mismanaging the economy and agriculture. He also said Türkiye faced an enormous refugee and migrant crisis and “uncontrolled” entry of migrants and refugees drove Türkiye to a serious problem of public order.
Ince called on voters to vote for “Homeland” instead of alliances led by Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu, saying that his movement was neither “left nor right” but composed of those “walking in the footsteps of Atatürk,” the founder of the Republic of Türkiye. “We will govern the country as Atatürk did, through wisdom, justice and morals,” he said.
Ince pledged “a struggle without concessions” against terrorist groups, from the PKK to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), and a yearly economic growth of at least 7% in his speech. On foreign policy, he said they would engage in membership talks with the European Union.
Sinan Oğan, the candidate for the ATA alliance, said that his two top priorities after he was elected would be signing a decree to “send Syrians and all refugees back to their countries” and the “establishment of a Disaster Ministry.”
Oğan said the May 14 elections would be “an election that would decide on the fate of (Türkiye).”
“You will vote whether 13 million refugees would stay here or go,” the far-right candidate said in his speech.
