Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) member of Parliament and former Ambassador Namık Tan said the following in his speech at the Turkish Grand National Assembly: “At times, they dreamt of reviving the Ottoman Empire. They didn't settle for cross-border operations. They ventured into overseas adventures. At one point, they clung to the Blue Homeland fantasy, but fortunately, they quickly backed away when the economy's collapse was imminent.”

All citizens in Türkiye have an idea of what the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) is. In other countries, however, there is still a tendency to see FETÖ as a "moderate Islamic" organization. FETÖ, which plays the "victim" game by claiming basic freedoms, is also aware of this deficiency. For this reason, FETÖ, which had structured itself in Türkiye since the 1970s, is attempting to infiltrate the state and implement its agenda of "dominating power," especially in the United States.

The United States has been doing almost everything to otherize and alienate Türkiye throughout the last decade. The damaging steps taken by the last three U.S. governments, namely Barack Obama, Donald Trump and the current Joe Biden administrations, show that anti-Türkiye policy has become the state policy.

Sweden made headlines in Türkiye again this week by permitting yet another Quran burning under police protection on the first day of Qurban Bayram, also known as Eid al-Adha. That heinous act took place near a mosque in Stockholm, as had another burning in January, and had absolutely nothing to do with freedom of expression. Quite the contrary, it was a hate crime targeting Muslims and an obvious act of provocation.

The Western media doubling down on its anti-Erdoğan campaign in the home stretch is hardly surprising. In addition to The Economist, which went well beyond endorsing the opposition candidate in Türkiye’s presidential race, publications like Foreign Policy, Le Point, L’Express, Der Spiegel and The Washington Post have been notably involved in the Turkish elections.

With Türkiye entering the final week of the 2023 election campaign, rhetorical battles have notably escalated. It would be wrong to reduce that development to peak polarization because what observers have called this year’s most important election remains critically important for the country’s future.

Terrorist organizations will become more ambitious and voters will grow more concerned unless and until Kılıçdaroğlu publicly pledges to continue the fight against terrorist groups with the same level of determination as the current government. Otherwise, he will face mounting criticism that he could not speak up against terrorists for the sake of “a handful of votes.”

As the rigid discourse of Turkish and Kurdish leftists merge with the CHP’s ultra-secularism, DEVA, the Felicity Party (SP) and the GP watch from the sidelines and offer a standing ovation.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Tuesday unveiled its election manifesto titled “The Right Steps for the Century of Türkiye.” The 481-page text, which the party painstakingly thought out, comprises six chapters and attaches importance to future projects, ways to improve living standards, and pursuing ambitious goals in foreign policy and national security.

Everyone seems to agree that Türkiye will make a “critically important choice at a historic crossroads” on May 14. That makes us expect an election campaign where each candidate and their parties will speak their truths. Do not be fooled by the ongoing calmness, as electoral alliances have been trying to expand and negotiate candidate lists in the month of Ramadan.

The upcoming Turkish elections are not characterized by complete right-left polarization. Right-wing parties and former Justice and Development Party (AK Party) members are at the CHP’s table. In truth, anti-Erdoğanism represents the backbone of the opposition campaign, but that is not enough to win. That’s because neo-Kemalist CHP and IP voters do not think that anti-Erdoğanism could justify Kılıçdaroğlu’s engagement with the HDP. Likewise, they are seriously frustrated by the PKK and FETÖ’s thinly veiled endorsement of the prominent opposition leader. In their view, Kılıçdaroğlu and his many vice presidential candidates are not fit to govern Türkiye.

If the seven-party coalition actually attempts to govern, they will transform government agencies into fiefdoms loyal to different political parties and ideologies. Each political party will attempt to inject its own supporters into the bureaucracy, fueling fragmentation and even rivalries. It is virtually impossible to guess how many meetings they would have to hold to coordinate their actions.

Türkiye will hold the most critical elections in its recent past on May 14, 2023. The haste and increasingly intense rhetoric of electoral alliances and candidates attest to that fact. Before the war of words between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his opponent, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, kicks off in the final stretch, it would be helpful to summarize what each candidate says about the future (and what they refrain from saying).

As presidential candidates and electoral alliances become clear, the election campaign has reached a new level. We are witnessing unreserved statements and even accusations among politicians within the same electoral alliance. Yet, their deeds are not aligned with their words. In other words, they are doing what is politically convenient. At the same time, politicians are starting to voice extreme views that amount to impositions on the electorate. Within the opposition, we see a mixture of threats, peer pressure, hope, rage and a yearning for revenge. In this sense, the election campaign takes shape in a way that makes it harder for voters to make sense of all the political and ideological divisions and rivalries.