Erdoğan will have to respect election results if he loses, says rival

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will have to yield if he loses in the upcoming elections, said his main rival in the dual elections on Sunday.

"The will of the people is above everything. No one has the luxury of saying that I disregard the will of the people," Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the presidential candidate of the Nation's Alliance, said late yesterday during a live interview on TELE1 channel.

Kılıçdaroğlu was responding to recent statements made by Erdoğan, who had said, "My nation will not hand over the power to you if you are elected with the support of [terrorists]," accusing the Kurdish issue-focused Green Left (Yeşil Sol) Party, which will support Kılıçdaroğlu against him.

"They cannot refuse to hand over the administration, they will hand it over easily. This will end in the first round. We are in very good condition, easily," said Kılıçdaroğlu.

Conflict concerns

During the interview, Kılıçdaroğlu also addressed concerns about potential conflicts on election night.

He warned that some elements of the AK Party might come out and cause trouble if they lose, and he urged citizens to be careful to avoid creating a conflict environment.

Kılıçdaroğlu also discussed the importance of ballot security and said that his party had been working on this for the past 1.5 years. He assured voters that his party had established all necessary infrastructure and conducted trials to ensure that the election results would be accurate.

He also criticized the government's propaganda campaigns and accused them of creating conflict. Kılıçdaroğlu warned that false allegations were being made for their benefit and urged the public not to believe in the montage-makers. (AS/VK)