Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Erdogan overcomes ill health as Turkish elections set to go to the wire

Erdogan overcomes ill health as Turkish elections set to go to the wire

Turkiye is facing one of the most competitive elections in its political history with both presidential and parliamentary polls set to be held on May 14.
After President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was forced to postpone his campaigning last week due to a reported intestinal infection — he fell ill during a live interview — questions were raised as to how his health might affect his popularity among voters.

Since undergoing intestinal surgery in 2011, the 69-year-old’s health has been often subject to false reporting.

The latest upset meant Erdogan was forced to inaugurate the activation of a Russian-built nuclear power plant on Thursday via a video link.

But after a few days’ rest, he was back on the scene on Friday at Teknofest, a major aerospace and technology event, alongside Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Libya’s Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.

Erdogan’s main opposition in the election is 74-year-old Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Both men have campaigned hard in recent weeks, holding daily rallies across the country.

“Erdogan’s voters have probably lost their morale a little, since he’s a charismatic leader who easily gathers people around him,” Hurcan Asli Aksoy, deputy head of the Berlin-based Center for Applied Turkey Studies at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told Arab News.

“(But) Erdogan will try to attend and organize big and attractive meetings to regain their attention,” she added.

Erdogan has been in power for two decades and is seeking a third presidential term but the latest polls give Kilicdaroglu a narrow lead.

The challenger’s campaign has focused on the public’s discontent at Turkiye’s “one-man” rule and proposes to replace it with a more democratic system. He has also promised to bring wealth and prosperity to Turkey amid an economic recession.

Kilicdaroglu recently pledged to introduce a five-year ban on foreigners buying property in Turkiye to help ease a long-running housing crisis.

“Within a year, rent prices increased by 197 percent. The minimum wage is 8,500 lira ($437) while the average rent for a house is 7,400 lira,” he said.

According to a survey by Turkish firm Konda that was leaked on social media, Erdogan won 43 percent of the votes in the first round against Kilicdaroglu’s 42 percent. But in the second round, the challenger secured 51 percent to Erdogan’s 49 percent.

During his campaign rallies, which drew large crowds even in conservative strongholds, Kilicdaroglu was accompanied by potential vice presidents Ekrem Imamoglu and Mansur Yavas, the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara respectively.

Osman Sert, research director of polling firm Panoramatr, said Kilicdaroglu was showing he had wide appeal among voters, from the center-left to the center and nationalist groups, as well as those with Islamist tendencies.

“Both Imamoglu and Yavas have helped him during his electoral campaign and they appeal to large crowds because they represent the center and nationalistic tendencies within Turkish society,” he told Arab News.

“As the opposition conducts his campaign with several actors under the same bloc, they have been able to hold rallies across 10 cities on the same day. But, their campaign still lacks a main message.”

In contrast, the Erdogan camp was using identity politics to win over voters, but the leader’s absence had hampered this approach, Sert said.

“As the three-day sickness of Erdogan revealed, the government, in contrast to the opposition bloc, does not have any backup actors who can overcome the short-term absences of the leader,” he said.

“The only political actor who could generate rhetoric during the campaign is Erdogan and when he is not on the campaign field, the void can’t be filled, because in Turkiye political power has become extremely centralized around Erdogan.”

While Erdogan was recuperating, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu attracted criticism by referring to the upcoming elections as the “West’s political coup attempt” against the current regime.

But Sert said the president’s brief absence was unlikely to have had a major effect on his ratings.

“Such short-term disappearances can happen in any country and it is totally understandable that it can fuel some speculations and concerns,” he said. “But this time it was not for a long duration and it did not change voter preferences to a significant degree.”

The race was still neck and neck, he said.

Erdogan on Saturday delivered a 40-minute speech to voters in the western province of Izmir — an opposition stronghold — helping dispel concerns about the state of his health.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
×