Turkish election: Erdogan and Kemal Kilicdaroglu clash in final push for votes

The past hours of Turkey's statesmanlike contention person turned progressively sour arsenic Recep Tayyip Erdogan bids to widen his 20 years successful powerfulness by 5 more.

Ahead of Sunday's run-off vote, absorption rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu has courted nationalist votes by vowing to expel millions of Syrian refugees.

The president accused him of hatred code - and said a Kilicdaroglu triumph would beryllium a triumph for terrorists.

The absorption campaigner trailed successful the archetypal circular by 2.5 cardinal votes.

The president is favourite, but his rival believes the borderline could inactive beryllium bridged - either by the 2.8 cardinal supporters of an ultranationalist campaigner who came 3rd oregon by the 8 cardinal voters who did not crook retired successful the archetypal round.

For 4 hours this week Mr Kilicdaroglu took assemblage questions connected a YouTube transmission called BaBaLa TV. The broadcast has reached 24 cardinal views by the latest number and Turkey has a colonisation of 85 million.

Youth campaigner Mehtep thinks the YouTube marathon could work: "Being connected BaBaLa TV affected tons of young voters who didn't ballot archetypal clip around."

She's a subordinate of the centre-right, nationalist Good party, which has backed the absorption challenger and has the lone pistillate person successful Turkish authorities successful Meral Aksener.

The quality was a astute determination for a campaigner trying to flooded his rival's inbuilt vantage of controlling astir 90% of Turkish media.

President Erdogan has not conscionable amassed sweeping powers successful the past six years - helium has cracked down connected dissent and governmental opponents person been thrown into jail.

Anticipating an Erdogan triumph and further economical instability, the fiscal markets reacted with the Turkish lira hitting grounds lows against the dollar connected Friday. Demand for overseas currency has surged and the cardinal bank's nett overseas currency reserves person slipped into antagonistic territory for the archetypal clip since 2002.

That volition beryllium of small interest successful the municipality of Bala, an hour's thrust to the south-east of Ankara.

More than 60% of voters backed President Erdogan determination 2 weeks ago, though each the main parties person offices connected the the precocious street.

Across the roadworthy from the president's enactment headquarters, doner kebab store proprietor Al Ozdemir says helium volition ballot for different 5 years of Mr Erdogan.

But different shopkeeper refused to archer the BBC who helium supported due to the fact that helium feared losing Erdogan supporters arsenic customers.

For months Turkey's struggling system was the fig 1 issue, but arsenic Sunday's run-off has drawn close, the rhetoric has intensified and refugees are astatine the centre of it.

Gone is the unifying 74-year-old absorption person with his hands cupped into trademark heart-shape. Instead, helium is trying to pull voters who backed ultranationalist person Sinan Ogan 2 Sundays ago.

Although the president won Mr Ogan's backing, the absorption person secured the enactment of the anti-immigrant Victory Party, led by Umit Ozdag, whose enactment won 1.2 cardinal votes.

The Victory Party person said this week Mr Kilicdaroglu had agreed to nonstop backmost "13 cardinal migrants" wrong a twelvemonth "in enactment with planetary law".

Turkey is hosting much refugees than immoderate different country, but obscurity adjacent that many.

Prof Murat Erdogan (no narration to President Erdogan), who conducts a regular tract survey called Syrians Barometer, believes the full fig of Syrian refugees and irregular migrants from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan is person to six oregon 7 million.

"Their sermon is not realistic, physically it's impossible," says Prof Erdogan. "If we speech astir [repatriating] voluntarily it's not feasible, and by unit it means per time much than 50,000 should beryllium sent back."

The rhetoric is unpleasant but it mightiness marque a difference. As galore arsenic 85% of Turks privation refugees from Syria's civilian warfare to spell home, sentiment polls suggest.

Both sides person nationalist parties to support onside, says governmental idiosyncratic Nezih Onur Kuru from Koc university, and Mr Kilicdaroglu is tapping into information concerns felt by galore voters, particularly young ones.

"He knows the level of perceived threats is excessively precocious due to the fact that of the migrant situation and violent attacks and wars involving Russia, Syria and Azerbaijan."

President Erdogan says helium is already sending Syrian refugees backmost and plans to nonstop more. His main spouse is the far-right nationalist MHP.

And helium has gone connected the onslaught too, utilizing a manipulated video astatine a rally to nexus his rival to the Kurdish militant PKK, considered a panic radical successful the West arsenic good arsenic Turkey.

On Friday helium said a Kilicdaroglu triumph meant that "terrorist organisations" would win.

His people is the large pro-Kurdish HDP party, which backs Mr Kilicdaroglu and which President Erdogan has repeatedly sought to place with the PKK militants. The HDP denies immoderate specified links.

The HDP, for now, backs Mr Kilicdaroglu due to the fact that it wants an extremity to Turkey's "one-man regime". But it has genuine concerns astir his confederation with a far-right nationalist.

Initially it was thought that President Erdogan could beryllium defeated due to the fact that of his disastrous handling of Turkey's system and his mediocre effect to February's earthquakes.

And yet astir fractional of voters backed him. The question is whether Mr Kilicdaroglu's alteration of tack volition work.

"I wanted a change, each my customers wanted a change," says Songul successful her chickenhearted edifice successful Bala.

But yet she says they are each sticking with the president due to the fact that they bash not spot his other number: "I'll ballot for Erdogan arsenic there's nary alternative."