Turkish presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu expresses his desire to develop Greek-Turkish relations, as in the era of Ismail Tsem and George Papandreou, and emphasizes that he wants the Aegean Sea to be an “area of ​​peace.”

We met with Mr. Kilicdaroglu in Ankara after his campaign speech on TV. To our question about what he means by the term “change of foreign policy axis” and what he plans to do with Greece, Mr. Kilicdaroglu replied: “Without waiting for the EU decision to open funds, we will fulfill all the conditions that it provides. Because we believe we are a country that deserves first-class democracy. With E.E. we want to develop our relationship. One of our important wishes is that they also come to Turkey and make investments. With regard to relations with Greece, we want to turn the Aegean into a zone of peace, as happened during the period when Ismail Tsem was Minister of Foreign Affairs. We want to develop our relations with Greece in a friendly way. This is one of our biggest desires. After all, we have a common culture, common songs, common memories, and we must develop them.”

We asked Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu why he wore a bulletproof vest at one of his last campaign rallies and if he was afraid. “I’m not afraid. But I have to ensure my safety. There was different information and I was asked to wear a bulletproof vest. I didn’t want to displease them and put it on,” he said. “As a national alliance, we will win the elections. We will bring democracy and peace to Turkey in a real sense. There is instability in the economy and we must try to achieve stability. There are disasters between the legislative, judicial and executive branches in the pillars of the state, and we will try to restore the balance.” .

Most analysts predict victory for the leader of the opposition. “The biggest opponent of the Turkish president is economic problems, inflation and difficulties of survival. This is also the reason that for the first time Mr. Erdogan faces the risk of defeat and, possibly, with an advantage, ”a well-known Turkish journalist emphasizes“ K ”.

“The AKP and Erdogan managed to rally, but it looks like they will lose because of their own electoral system, which provides for 50% + 1 vote,” says Özer Senjar in his analysis of the latest poll by the company he leads, Metropoll.

“We will not wait for the EU to open the funds, we will fulfill all the conditions that it provides.”

The concern, however, is related to the atmosphere of extreme polarization in which Turkey finds itself, and political scientists are concerned about the developments that will occur immediately after the announcement of the election results.

The removal of Muharrem Indez from the race because of the pink video sparked serious discussions about the conspiracy, clearly expressed from official lips.

Polls show that Kemal Kilicdaroglu is in the lead, with his approval rating hovering between 46% and 50%, while Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s is 2 to 4 points behind.

However, the ORC company, which predicted the result in the previous presidential elections in 2018, reports that Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu will win by at least 7 points!

What sparked skepticism in Mr. Kilicdaroglu’s camp was Mr. Erdogan’s campaign rally last week in Istanbul. The Turkish president managed to gather at least a million people around the old Ataturk airport and showed that he has strong political endurance, but also an effective party apparatus.

However, on the other hand, Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu has the advantage that he is not alone. Mostly in the last two weeks, he was supported by the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara.