Commentary on the May 28 election from the world media: 80 percent Erdogan

‘ERDOĞAN EYES FOR THE THIRD TEN YEARS OF POWER’
International news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) scrutinized the candidates’ campaigns one week before the second round, ‘Erdogan watches third decade of power in historic second round‘ used the title.

Stating that the final week has been entered for the second round, AFP commented that when the polls are re-established, Erdogan will be the big favourite, and wrote that despite different polls, he narrowly missed the 50 percent threshold in the first round.

Noting that Erdogan had an 80 percent chance of winning in the second round on May 28, according to the political consultancy Eurasia Group, AFP reported that the Turkish leader used the nationalist wave, in which small nationalist parties won 25 percent of the parliament in the first round.

Stating that the candidate of the opposition bloc, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, promised to save Turkey from millions of immigrants urgently by changing the campaign videos he took from his kitchen, AFP reported that a sharp right turn could affect the Kurdish votes and cost Kılıçdaroğlu very dearly.

Expressing that despite the economic difficulties, Erdogan has spread confidence since the first round, AFP emphasized the special relationship he has with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Reminding that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu received 45 percent of the vote on May 14, the news agency commented that he needed a “small miracle” for May 28. According to AFP, who noted that Kılıçdaroğlu’s progress was seen as a disappointment among the opponents in the first round, there was a return to nationalism from the kitchen videos before the second round.

AFP noted that Kılıçdaroğlu promised to send back nearly 4 million Syrians, as well as other migrants.