Kemal K?l?çdaro?lu is a man of clear words. He talks about the beauty of his faith, despite or precisely because many see it as his greatest flaw, because of the prejudices. He talks about the “madness” that has found its way into Turkish politics and the “tyrant” who is responsible for it. Last but not least, he speaks frankly what he intends to do: he wants to dethrone this tyrant.
Alone: ??K?l?çdaro?lu, 74, obviously speaks from the heart of more and more Turks. While there were initially doubts as to whether he was the right candidate at all – too modest in appearance, too reserved in attack -, polls now give him a good chance of succeeding in the unimaginable: Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, 69, the somehow eternally incumbent president to beat the parliamentary and presidential elections on May 14th.
Who is the man who is dangerous to Erdo?an?
First of all: a beacon of hope. Albeit after some wrangling, K?l?çdaro?lu was chosen as the opposition’s joint candidate by a coalition of six parties – united in the intention of putting an end to the Erdo?an era after 20 years. “We will get rid of him and send him into retirement in a democratic way,” said K?l?çdaro?lu in an interview with Stern. “Erdo?an knows that very well.”
For 13 years now, the studied economist has headed the largest opposition party, the CHP, once founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Before that, he headed the country’s powerful social security system for years. Nevertheless: for a long time he had the reputation of being too soft and too colorless for Turkish politics – under his leadership the CHP could not yet win an election against Erdo?an. On the one hand. On the other hand, during the repressive Erdo?an years he kept the opposition alive, eventually rallying the fragmented parties behind him as an alliance against the autocrat.
It is no coincidence that K?l?çdaro?lu is also called “anti-Erdo?an”. Again and again he has criticized the politics of the “Sultan” – as Erdogan is called because of his authoritarian power behavior – and distinguished himself through protest actions. For example, in 2017, when, amid the repression following the failed coup attempt , he walked a 420-kilometer “March for Justice” that ended up being followed by tens of thousands.
Or last winter when he didn’t pay his electricity bill – also out of protest, but also out of solidarity. Hundreds of thousands had their electricity cut off because they could no longer afford the skyrocketing prices. Ultimately, K?l?çdaro?lu was also left in the dark.
Most recently, he caused a stir with a commitment, an “Obama moment” that can already be called historic: K?l?çdaro?lu published a video on Twitter in which he professes his faith as an Alevi – to date there are more than 113 million people views more than any other video on Twitter. And that worldwide.
The “outing” is not trivial, it was at least a novelty and sometimes a taboo. The 74-year-old comes from the eastern Anatolian province of Tunceli (Kurdish: Dersim), belongs to the religious minority of the Alevis, who to this day complain about discrimination and oppression in predominantly Sunni Turkey. This background was repeatedly interpreted as a possible weakness before he announced his candidacy. K?l?çdaro?lu proudly exhibited the supposed weakness – and received a lot of encouragement for it.
K?l?çdaro?lu polarizes, inspires and stirs up hope – also in the federal government. Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir is hoping for a victory for the opposition leader, because his victory “would pave the way for a return to democracy.” The outcome is “more open than ever” in Erdo?an’s 20-year term as head of government and state.
In fact, polls point to a close neck-and-neck race. K?l?çdaro?lu has already achieved that: Erdo?an’s defeat, which was once unimaginable, is no longer impossible.
