By Athena Papakosta

Everything was in favor of Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The momentum was his. The polls had him in the position of the winner of the first round. Some even baptized him president from the first Sunday.

The state of the economy in Turkey has been the Achilles heel of the Turkish president with the ground still shaking under his feet, three months after the double whammy of February’s earthquakes. And yet, the Recep Tayyip Erdogan let the… squares do the talking. And they spoke with their vote.

The Turkish president was a breath away from victory while almost everyone had written him off. In particular, the country’s Supreme Electoral Council announced that Recep Tayyip Erdogan managed to collect 49.51%, while Kemal Kilicdaroglu 44.88%.

He himself may have managed to rally the divided opposition into a united front against him – seizing from 2018 all superpowers as the country’s president with his Constitutional Review – but the game of “all of them and myself” ended with the score is in favor of him since his party’s coalition (Justice and Development Party, AKP) also wins the majority in the Parliament, regardless of the result of the second round as it only concerns the presidential race in about fifteen days from today.

Foreign media and analysts are already reporting that the advantage of the next day in Turkey belongs to Erdogan who, as they explain, will make sure to consolidate his omnipotence with a more authoritarian government of the country.

If, indeed, Tayyip Erdogan survives Sunday, May 28, and the green light for another five years of rule is given to him, the West will not be happy at all.

If one were to follow the international media in the last period of time and especially last Sunday, the day of the parliamentary and presidential elections in Turkey, one would find that the whole planet has its eyes on the neighbor.

Turkey is a NATO member with warm (at least) relations with Russia, and Erdogan at its helm, more powerful than ever, is creating insecurity in the West at a crucial time in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

At the same time, the Turkish state of the president-sultan has already become less secular by turning its orientation towards authoritarianism with the erosion of rights in the country in full swing.

For the West to increase further repression against Kurds, dissidents, journalists, women, the LGBTQ+ community and their defenders creates the headache of further distancing Turkey from the rule of law, fundamental rights and thus from her embrace.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s prayers at Hagia Sophia, which he converted into a mosque in 2020, seem to have taken place. Of course, his ally was also the “foundations” that he had laid over the past two decades of governance. The state apparatus is under his control while, at the same time, the Media are also controlled by him. At the same time, his followers seem to be hypnotized by his hegemonic presence. They almost identify with him.

The two weeks remaining for the battle of the battles, for the second round of the presidential election contest, in Turkey will be crucial.

Polarization dominates the country as does doubt with many fearing what the times bring and analysts still searching for the words to understand how the Turkish president who came to power as a liberator due to economic crisis and an earthquake now, with the Turkish economy in turmoil due to Erdoganomics and after the disaster of February may remain as a “dynast”.