Erdogan heads into polls today predicting victory

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan led yesterday prayers at Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia mosque before entering the election battle of his political life against a powerful secular rival.
The 69-year-old was emulating a ritual that Ottoman sultans performed before they led their men off to war as he braces for today’s parliamentary and presidential ballot.
A shout of “God is greatest” went up over Istanbul’s old city as the sun set and news of Erdogan’s arrival at the mosque filtered in.
Erdogan, who has never faced a more energised or united opposition than the one spearheaded by retired civil servant Kemal Kilicdaroglu and his disparate alliance of six parties, predicted his party would win.
The Turkish leader excelled at splitting his rivals and forging unlikely unions while winning one national election after another for 21 years.
The six opposition parties have put aside their political and cultural differences and joined forces for the lone task of pushing Erdogan out.
They are officially supported by Turkiye’s main pro-Kurdish party — a group that accounts for at least 10 percent of the vote.
The maths is not adding up in Erdogan’s favour and most polls show him trailing his secular rival by a few points.
Kilicdaroglu is now desperately trying to break the 50% threshold and avoid a May 28 runoff that could give Erdogan a chance to regroup and reframe the debate.
Kilicdaroglu yesterday laid carnations at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk — a revered military commander who forged a secular state out of the Ottoman Empire’s ruins in 1923.
It was a defining moment that underscored the contrasting visions the two men have for their increasingly polarised nation of 85mn people.
“Ataturk was open to innovation. He embraced change with courage,” Kilicdaroglu said.
“Focus all your energy on building the new, not fighting the old.”
The strength of the opposition’s campaign put Erdogan in the uncomfortable position of being asked on Friday night television what he would do if he lost.
“This is a very silly question,” Erdogan fumed. “We would do what democracy requires.”
He projected confidence before supporters yesterday.
“Tomorrow night we will win,” Erdogan promised before joining the crowd in a rendition of his campaign song. “We will emerge stronger from the ballot box.”
Erdogan’s decision to convert Hagia Sophia back into a mosque in 2020 solidified his hero status among his religious supporters and contributed to growing Western unease with his rule.
“The entire West got mad — but I did it,” Erdogan said yesterday.
Erdogan has played up religious themes and used culture wars to try and energise his conservative and nationalist base.
The voting will include southeastern regions that lie in ruins in the wake of a February earthquake that claimed more than 50,000 lives.
The level of anger in these traditionally pro-Erdogan regions could also help swing today’s outcome