Kılıçdaroğlu targets refugees, asserts that Erdoğan bows to Russia in new video

Photo: screenshot from video

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In a new video released yesterday (May 17), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the sole remaining contender against incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey's presidential race, targets refugees, criticizes the head of state's connections with Russia and his response to the February 6 earthquakes.

"I am addressing everyone from here. We did not find this homeland on the streets. Today, we will not surrender our homeland to this mentality that allowed 10 million irregular refugees to enter our country. The border is our honor. That's what we said.

"We will not leave our homeland to those who are incapable of protecting our honor, who watch this flood of irregular people into our veins every day, who do not lift a finger for the sake of imported votes in the face of this refugee influx that will one day increase from 10 million to 30 million and threaten our survival.

"We will not leave our homeland to those who view women as objects, those who claim to own them, those who with a hogties murder women brutally, and those who lay eyes on our little children, our sons, and daughters," Kılıçdaroğlu declares, standing beside a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of Modern Turkey and the Republican People's Party (CHP).

Different strategy

The normally soft-spoken CHP leader, who previously posted videos from his modest kitchen, has seemingly opted for a different strategy after May 14's unexpected results.

The frontrunner aimed to finish the race in the first round but was unsuccessful, as President Erdoğan garnered 49.5% of the vote, while Kılıçdaroğlu managed to receive 44.9%, prompting a run-off on May 28.

The new tone seems to address the constituency of Sinan Oğan, the far-right Ancestral (Ata) Alliance candidate, who received an unanticipated 5.17% of the vote.

The 74-year-old former bureaucrat continues by slamming Turkey's leader's ties with Russia, his handling of the February 6 earthquakes, and the constant pouring down of terrorist allegations by the ruling alliance.

"We will not surrender our homeland to a fake world leader who was until recently the Greater Middle East Project's Co-Chair and is now under Russia's guidance!

"While tens of thousands of citizens lost their lives in earthquakes, we will not leave our homeland this mentality that ordered the soldiers to 'halt' on the morning of the earthquake, out of fear, and profited from selling blood while people were trapped under debris, and sold tents!

"We will not leave our homeland to this mentality that conveniently labels the citizens of the Republic of Turkey as Kurds when it suits them, and as PKK members when it doesn't; as conservative Muslims when it suits them, and as FETÖ members when it doesn't," the presidential contender ventilates.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has been in an armed conflict with the state since 1984, while FETÖ is an abbreviation for "Fethullahist Terrorist Organization," also known as the "Gülen Movement," led by exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen, who is held to be the mastermind behind the 2016 failed putsch. The ruling coalition frequently accuses the opposition of being in bed with both.

Cosmic room

The Nation Alliance candidate further alleges the reigning bloc of opening up highly classified military archives in Ankara, dubbed the "cosmic room" to betrayers.

"We will not leave our homeland to those who collaborated with America and FETÖ, plotted against the national army, imprisoned our patriotic officers in the Sledgehammer and Ergenekon trials, opened the most confidential place of the military, the cosmic room, yes, the cosmic room, to traitors, and caused the martyrdom of dozens of patriotic intelligence officers!

"Those who love their country should come to the ballot box! The true admirers of this homeland, those who have paid the price. They want to deceive you with various lies, and false perceptions, with pretending to be sided with the opposition.

"And you, the youth, get up and shake off the dead weight. Those who love their country should come to the ballot box. We will fight until the end. We will definitely, absolutely win. Definitely," Kılıçdaroğlu states.

The Sledgehammer and Ergenekon trials were high-profile legal cases in Turkey in the beginning and middle of the 00s. Numerous individuals, including military officials, journalists, academics, and politicians, were arrested and tried in connection to alleged coup conspiracies.

(TY/WM)