Turkey.. Campaigns continue hours before election silence and Erdogan calls for wide participation, criticizes Kılıçdaroğlu's talk of Russian interference

Turkish political alliances continue their popular gatherings in various states on Saturday in preparation for the parliamentary and presidential elections that will be organized on Sunday, just hours before entering the period of electoral silence in which electoral advertising is prohibited this evening.

Turkish President and Public Alliance candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan called during an election rally on Friday in Istanbul for wide participation in the elections, while the candidate of the Nation Alliance and leader of the Republican People's Party Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu - during a rally in the city of Samsun - confirmed his economic promises to support farmers and what he called the productive economy.

Good Party leader Meral Akşener and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş participated in an election event organized by the People's Alliance in Yozgat province.

The White House has praised what it described as "Turkey's democratic traditions and institutions" regarding presidential and parliamentary elections, and the White House National Security Council's strategic communications coordinator, John Kirby, said during a press conference that Turkey has democratic traditions and institutions.

He added that "the White House generally refrains from commenting on the elections or any candidate in them," stressing that "the Turkish people are the decision-makers."

Erdogan warns

Erdogan warned his supporters at a rally in Istanbul on Friday that they could pay a "heavy price" if his secular rival came to power.

Addressing supporters waving Turkish flags, he said: "Don't forget. You may pay a heavy price if we lose."

He also considered that Western governments are using the opposition to impose their vision on Turkish society, sending a message to the West by saying, "O West, my nation decides."

Accusations against Russia

Erdogan also criticized opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's accusations about Russia's interference in the Turkish elections, noting that the latter began harassing Russia this time by accusing it of directing the elections.

He stressed that he could not accept Kılıçdaroğlu's attack on Russia and its President Vladimir Putin, saying, "You (Kılıçdaroğlu) attacked Putin, but excuse me, I cannot accept that, because Turkey has relations with Russia that are not less than the level of its relations with the United States."

He explained that the volume of Turkish foreign trade with Russia is higher than the volume of trade with the United States.

He pointed out that Kılıçdaroğlu repeated what US President Joe Biden said before he reached the White House, that "Erdogan must be defeated."

"But you (Kılıçdaroğlu) are helpless and pathetic because when Biden said that, did you ask him why he said that article? No I did not.. I knew Biden long before you, and we had family encounters."

Kılıçdaroğlu on Thursday accused Russia of being behind video content that he says "discredits presidential candidates," writing on Twitter: "Dear Russian friends, you are behind the montages, conspiracies, fake content and tapes that were revealed in this country (Turkey) yesterday."

"If you want our friendship to continue after May 15, take your hand off the Turkish state, we still support cooperation and friendship," he said.

Video clip

At a rally attended by hundreds of thousands, Erdogan asked attendees to watch a "very important" video on a screen in which Kılıçdaroğlu appeared smiling as he pleaded with voters: "Come on, go together to the ballot box."

The clip then shows footage of senior PKK leader Murat Karilan apparently saying "Come on" with a group of gunmen clapping next to him, with a song from Kılıçdaroğlu in the background sounding, and a picture of Kılıçdaroğlu appears in the clip again.

As the clip was played, Erdogan asked, "Will the patriotic citizens of this country vote for them?"

Erdogan commented again on the clip in an interview with a group of students broadcast on Turkish channels on Thursday. Erdogan said at the meeting: "Kılıçdaroğlu is supported by the leader of the terrorist group. He says 'Haya' and the other says 'Haya'."

Asked about the clip and Erdogan's use of it in his election campaign, Turkish presidential officials declined to comment, while Kılıçdaroğlu said in an interview with Reuters on Friday, "What saddens me deeply is that this is the language used by the president himself," describing the clip as a lie.