In the last pre-election rallies held today in Istanbul, the outgoing president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused the opposition of working with the American president, Joe Biden, to overthrow him.

Erdogan’s election campaign focused on his government’s achievements in defense industry and infrastructure projects, with him arguing that the opposition would reverse these progress projects.

Besides these, the Turkish president states that the Turkish opposition accepts orders from the West and that the opposition will submit to the wishes of Western states in the event that it is elected.

At a campaign rally in the Umraniye district of the Turkish metropolis, Erdogan recalled a statement Biden had made when the latter was campaigning for the US presidency. This statement was published in the New York Times in January 2020. At the time, Biden had said that Washington should encourage Erdogan’s opponents to defeat him through elections, stressing that he should not be ousted from power in a coup.

This statement was then condemned by Ankara as “interventionist”.

“Biden ordered the overthrow of Erdogan, I know that. My people all know it,” the Turkish leader said. “In such a case, then tomorrow’s election will give an answer to Biden as well,” he added.

A State Department spokesman emphasized that Turkey is a long-standing US ally, noting that Washington will closely monitor the Turkish elections. However, he clarified: “The United States does not take sides in elections.”

“Our only interest is the democratic process, which should be both free and fair. We trust the Turkish authorities to conduct the election in accordance with its long, proud democratic tradition and its laws,” the US State Department spokesman said.