Flowers, sweets and envelopes in hand, Behice Sayat and her friends walked the streets of Beyoglu, Istanbul’s central district, every day to remind their neighbors to vote for the opponent Kemal Kiliçdaroglu on Sunday.
Independently of the parties to which they often blame a lack of action on the ground, many Turkish citizens voting for the opposition mobilized for the second round of the presidential election, a novelty in the country.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the first round with a five point lead (49.5%) over his rival, the social democrat Kemal Kiliçdaroglu (45%), causing deep disappointment in his camp who believed in his victory of same as most sounders.
This time, the latest polls give the head of state a lead, but in the camp opposite many are those who refuse to give up.
“There is no room for despair,” said Behice Sayat, 40, who runs an advertising agency in Istanbul.
For her, it all started with a WhatsApp group created by residents of her neighborhood who wanted to overcome divisions and exchange with voters from the opposing camp.
An arduous task facing the outgoing president who accuses the opposition over his speeches broadcast live on almost all channels of “supporting terrorism” and “LGBT”.
“The day after the first round, we started looking for ways to overcome polarization and reach people who believe in government propaganda,” she says.
“My dear neighbour, they are lying to you and we are worried about the future of our country,” says the letter written by Ms. Sayat and distributed, with the help of her friends, to more than 600 people in her neighborhood.
Similar letters appeared across Turkey, especially calling on the 8.3 million first-round absentees to vote.
This “new way of doing politics” from below sometimes takes artistic forms, such as videos and posters created by Internet users to support the opposition.
Koray Onat, a 32-year-old audiovisual artist, has produced a clip for a sharp song by young musician Paptircem which has been viewed more than a million and a half times on Twitter.
“My Sultan, your lies float but your hands never shake. These crooked deputies, you fed them with my youth,” she sings as images of Erdogan ranting, suppressed student protests, cities devastated by the earthquake which killed more than 50,000 people in February in Turkey.
“The clip made us feel that we could have an impact. We did what we could to win these elections,” says the artist.
“It is not easy to reach people who only watch pro-government channels,” said Ali Gul, of the “Young Turks” group, which is also leading a civil campaign for Mr. Kiliçdaroglu.
– “Overcoming hate” –
For Ozan Gundogdu, journalist at the daily Birgün, such initiatives can have an unexpected effect.
His Twitter call for opposition voters to speak “with Erdogan’s supporters and move beyond hate speech” received thousands of responses.
“We are 25 million. We have to convince 1.5 million Erdogan supporters to win. When you put it like that, the picture is not so hopeless,” he said.
Mr. Gundogdu is aware, however, that the task remains difficult.
“Reason leads us to pessimism. The one-man regime has been insulting us for months. We have been called without a flag, without a homeland, without a religion, terrorists… But people are struggling to save their honor and (do ) reflect their will at the ballot box,” he insists.
Gamze, a mother of three, spent three hours on the phone to convince an ex-colleague who votes for Erdogan. In vain.
However, his efforts were successful with some people around him.
With her husband, she also volunteered as a poll watcher with an NGO that fights against electoral fraud.
“This is our last chance,” she said.
“We were so demoralized the day after the first round. But I believe in it now. Everyone is mobilized”.
27/05/2023 14:50:12 Istanbul (AFP) © 2023 AFP
