A worker holds up a sign that reads “adalet” – “justice”. The figure stands on the desk of Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu (74) in Ankara. It is reminiscent of one of the strong moments in his career: Six years ago, Kilicdaroglu led a protest march from the capital Ankara to Istanbul, he walked more than 400 kilometers, thousands followed him. The trigger for the protest was the conviction of a MP from Kilicdaroglu’s social democratic party CHP. The march became an outcry against mass layoffs, arrests and the policies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which were perceived as repressive.
Kilicdaroglu now wants to fight again against the injustice in the country and the “one-man state”. He is a candidate for six opposition parties from different camps in the parliamentary and presidential elections in a week’s time. For the first time after 20 years in power, 69-year-old Erdogan is not entering the race as a favorite – but as the leader of the opposition.
During his 2017 protest march, supporters celebrated Kilicdaroglu and nicknamed him Mahatma “Gandhi of Turkey”, also because of his even temper and slight resemblance to the Indian resistance fighter. There were still doubts as to whether Kilicdaroglu can inspire masses today as it did then.
Many were against his candidacy, including from his own ranks. The mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, was considered the favourite, but was banned from politics. Critics accused Kilicdaroglu of not being able to convert popular displeasure with the economic situation into an increase in votes for his party for years.
Hardly any success for 13 years
Kilicdaroglu has not had any successes in national elections in his 13 years as opposition leader – in contrast to Erdogan, who has won every vote since he was elected prime minister in 2003. Erdogan likes to tease his opponent and derogatorily calls him Bay Kemal (Mr. Kemal). The opposition leader takes it easy and now uses “Bay Kemal” to describe himself.
Kilicdaroglu was born in the eastern Turkish province of Tunceli in 1948 and belongs to the Alevi religious minority. Kilicdaroglu broke a taboo with a video in which he publicly acknowledged it for the first time in April and achieved more than 100 million views. Kilicdaroglu studied economics in Ankara, and in the 1990s he headed the Social Insurance Institution. The image of the colorless bureaucrat still hangs on him to some extent.
But these days everything that has become dusty seems to have vanished. In the Erdogan stronghold of Ordu on the Black Sea, Kilicdaroglu draws thousands of listeners. People wave flags, stand at windows and have even climbed onto rooftops just to catch a glimpse of Kilicdaroglu. He jumps nimbly onto the stage for his 74 years, forms a heart with his index fingers and thumb and calls out: “Are you ready for change?” – “Evet” – “Yes”, he replies.
Win voters with alternatives
18-year-old Yasin believes that the people are only now really getting to know Kilicdaroglu. Like all opposition politicians, this one has to come up with alternatives to reach voters. Erdogan controls most of the media. In April, the state broadcaster Erdogan gave about 32 hours of broadcasting time, while Kilicdaroglu only 32 minutes.
Yasin says he only now understands “what a decent and good politician” Kilicdaroglu is. Yasin is one of around five million first-time voters in Turkey – a hotly contested group. The biggest problem is the economy, he says. He can only dream of going on vacation to Germany, he doesn’t even have enough money for a ticket to Istanbul. Critics accuse Kilicdaroglu of not being the kind of leader Turkey needs. President Erdogan, on the other hand, “stands up to the world,” says a 58-year-old, who introduces himself as a self-confessed “Tayyip fan.”
Kilicdaroglu presents himself as an alternative to Erdogan: a calm, instead of pithy demeanor, election campaign videos from a simple kitchen instead of the inauguration of major projects – and social reconciliation instead of polarization. The Turks have had enough of Erdogan and his leadership style, says Kilicdaroglu of the dpa and pleads for a policy guided by “reason”. In the event of victory, the alliance intends to abolish the presidential system and promote rapid accession to the EU. In order to support the ailing economy, they also want to attract investors from Germany.
Mood turns against refugees
When it comes to refugees, Kilicdaroglu adopts a nationalist tone. He announced that he would voluntarily return the millions of Syrians in the country, knowing full well that the mood in the country had turned against the refugees. After the earthquake disaster on February 6, the opposition leader found direct words: He attacked Erdogan with sharp rhetoric and accused him of failure.
Kilicdaroglu is considered a good mediator with a willingness to compromise. His own CHP party, which was seen as elitist and nationalist, moved to the center under his leadership. The idea of forging a six-party alliance against Erdogan is said to have come from him. When the alliance was on the verge of breaking up in early March over the question of who should run against Erdogan, Kilicdaroglu reacted calmly. Everything will fall into place, he said – and he was right. The pro-Kurdish HDP is not part of the six-party alliance, but is considered a kingmaker. She has since called on her voters to support Kilicdaroglu.
In his years of opposition to Erdogan, Kilicdaroglu was able to claim the mayoral elections of 2019 as a success for the first time: Erdogan’s Islamic conservative AKP lost the majority in important cities such as Istanbul and Ankara at the time. The AKP annulled the elections in Istanbul – in the repeat, the opposition won by an even greater margin. When asked about concerns about manipulation, Kilicdaroglu refers to the vote at the time and says: “We will show them (the government) what democracy means, for the second time.”
