The Turkish presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu struck a harsh note against refugees a good ten days before the presidential run-off election. “As soon as I come into power, I will send all the refugees home. Period,” said Kilicdaroglu, speaking of ten million people in the country.
It was not immediately clear what data he was relying on. According to the United Nations, 3.9 million refugees live in Turkey. Most of them come from Syria. During the election campaign, Kılıçdaroğlu had previously spoken of wanting to send Syrian refugees back to Syria on a voluntary basis and within two years.
Runoff against Erdoğan next week
Kılıçdaroğlu finished last Sunday’s presidential election behind incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who narrowly missed out on winning the first round. Because neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the votes, Kılıçdaroğlu and Erdoğan will face off in a runoff on May 28. Against the background of allegations of manipulation in the election on Sunday, Kılıçdaroğlu stated that he wanted to send at least one million election observers to the polls.
Observers assume that the votes from the nationalist camp in particular will be decisive in the election. The third-placed right-wing candidate Sinan Ogan got a good five percent in the first round. He links an election recommendation for Erdogan or Kılıçdaroğlu to assurances. He stands for anti-refugee politics and calls for an intensified “fight against terror”. It is doubtful whether his voters will follow his recommendations. Election researcher Özer Sencar said he assumed that the majority of them would switch to the Erdoğan camp anyway.