Istanbul, May 8, (dpa/GNA) – A few days before the elections, Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said he wants to govern the country more democratically than President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In an interview with German public broadcaster ARD on Monday, he said he wants to “wrest Turkey from an authoritarian leadership” and wants to fully implement “all democratic standards of the European Union.”
At the same time, he reaffirmed his plan to send the many refugees from Syria back to their home country and to negotiate with the government in Damascus.
In regards to the imprisoned former leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP, Selahattin Demirtaş, and the businessman and human rights activist Osman Kalava, Kılıçdaroğlu said he wanted to abide by the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights which has demanded the release of both men.
Both were imprisoned under Erdoğan’s rule. In his speeches, Erdoğan has continuously labelled the men as enemies of the state.
Around 60.7 million voters in Turkey and 3.4 million abroad are eligible to elect a president and a new parliament on May 14.
The polls are predicting it to be a close race between Erdoğan, the incumbent president, and Kılıçdaroğlu, who is running as the candidate of an alliance of six parties with different ideological orientations.
GNA