President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey unveiled his Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) manifesto for the upcoming parliamentary and presidential polls, condemning “global imperialists” and emphasizing Turkey’s strength. Thousands of supporters gathered at a sports arena in Ankara for the announcement, while tens of thousands more rallied outside. Erdogan faces a tough election test, with public anger over an economic crisis and the government’s delayed response to a February earthquake. Polls show him running neck-and-neck or losing to the secular Republican People’s Party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Erdogan stripped the legislature of much of its powers in the second decade of his rule, and the AKP’s future control of parliament appears to be in doubt. Erdogan remains unfazed, referring repeatedly to a failed but bloody 2016 coup attempt and casting his rivals as pawns of foreign governments. The AKP’s socially conservative traditions were also emphasized, with Erdogan appealing to the wider Muslim world. The election on May 14 will determine whether Erdogan and the AKP are able to keep control of parliament through an alliance with a far-right group. Erdogan’s economic policies have been criticized, with Turkey’s inflation rate touching 85 percent last year and the lira losing nearly half its value.
