Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today accused the opposition of inciting unrest and supporting terrorists from the podium a week before the May 14 elections.

Erdogan hinted that it was his political opponents who sparked the standoff on Sunday, when a mob threw stones at Ekrem Imamoglu’s bus in Erzurum, a stronghold of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Opinion polls show Erdogan will face the biggest electoral challenge of his life in the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections.

On Sunday, protesters threw stones at Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who represents the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and will become vice president if Kemal Kilcdaroglu wins this election.

Today, on the other side of the country, at an election rally in Edirne, Erdogan accused the opposition of being “pro-LGBTQ” and “supporting terrorists.”

Analysts say he is honing his rhetoric in an effort to win over conservative and nationalist voters.

The opposition is “shamelessly trying to discredit our cities by staging a scene of its own provocation,” he said, without directly referring to the events in Erzurum. “They are looking for a pretext for their defeat in the elections by provoking and insulting people,” he added.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu also accused the opposition of inciting violence in Erzurum. According to the minister, Imamoglu’s wife provoked the crowd by making a victory sign at another rally last week. The gesture, according to Soylu, refers to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“People in Erzurum are especially sensitive to patriotic issues. If you go to these cities and challenge them, God forbid,” Soylu said late Sunday evening.

Today, Imamoglu took part in another rally in Iconium, which is also a stronghold of the AKP.

“They may throw stones at us, but we will respond with roses,” he said. “The rebels will learn their lesson from the nation first in the elections, and then they will be tried in independent courts for their crimes,” he added.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.