The continued support of the HDP and the pseudo-left parties for Kılıçdaroğlu as an “alternative” to Erdoğan, despite his campaign’s pro-imperialist and xenophobic character, exposes their own political bankruptcy.
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Turkish elections: Kılıçdaroğlu’s xenophobic campaign exposes the pseudo-left
On May 14, in the first round of voting, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Justice and Development Party, AKP) won 49.52 percent. Kılıçdaroğlu (Republican People’s Party, CHP) came second with 44.88 percent, according to final results announced by the Supreme Electoral Council. Sinan Oğan, the candidate of the far-right Ata Alliance, received a surprising 5.17 percent.
Oğan and the Ata Alliance have demanded a ministerial or vice-presidential post in exchange for their support. They also put forward some conditions. Oğan demands an “uninterrupted fight against all kinds of terrorist organizations,” and the “deportation of refugees on a timetable.”
Erdoğan, the People Alliance candidate, has met with Oğan, and Kılıçdaroğlu with Ümit Özdağ, the leader of the far-right Victory Party, the main party supporting Oğan. Both Oğan and Özdağ came from Erdoğan’s fascist ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Oğan has said he will announce his decision today.
Both Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu want Oğan’s support in the second round. However, Erdoğan told CNN that he would not give in to Oğan’s demands. Kılıçdaroğlu, who seems more eager to get Oğan’s support, has escalated his dirty xenophobic campaign since May 14.
Kılıçdaroğlu has embraced Özdağ’s lying anti-refugee xenophobia. In his May 18 speech, Kılıçdaroğlu said, “Erdoğan, I tell you clearly, you did not protect the borders and the honor of the country. You knowingly brought more than 10 million refugees into this country. You have auctioned off the citizenship of the Republic of Turkey in order to get imported votes [of refugees]. As soon as I come to power, I will send all the refugees back home.”
He continued: “Do you realize that if [Erdoğan’s Alliance] stay, more than 10 million refugees will come to Turkey. If they stay, the dollar will reach 30 liras, misery will deepen when a loaf of bread costs 10 liras. These refugees will become potential crime machines, looting will start.”
Kılıçdaroğlu is blatantly exaggerating the number of refugees in Turkey, which is officially around 4 million, and blaming the most vulnerable section of the population for the economic crisis and the growing cost of living. This rhetoric is in the far-right political tradition. It has targeted above all the working class and the socialist movement since the 19th century, and today is promoted by the bourgeoisie all over the world.
Commenting on Kılıçdaroğlu’s remarks, Özdağ said, “I closed my eyes and thought it was me speaking.”
CHP deputy chairman Özgür Özel said, “The May 28 [election] is a referendum on whether Syrians should stay or go. … Those who say, ‘Syrians should stay’ will vote for Mr. Tayyip, and those who say ‘Syrians should go’ will vote for Mr. Kemal.”
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“We will not leave our homeland to those who see women as objects, who say they will adopt them, who slaughter women with hogtie, who covet our children,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, trying to exploit concerns about the entry of the Kurdish Islamist Hüda Par group into parliament with four deputies from AKP lists.
