As Turkey elects a new leader, the far right wins no matter the result

The political dynamics in Turkey resembles that of American and European politicians believing they can harness and exploit fringe political elements, only to be eventually consumed by their flames, writes Borzou Daragahi

It shows a lack of integrity and principles (AP)

Syrians escaping the dictatorship of Bashar al Assad did not cause Turkey’s inflation crisis, raise food and housing costs, or decimate the value of the Turkish lira. Afghans fleeing the Taliban are not responsible for the authoritarian drift of Turkey, the crackdown on the press and the hollowing out of its institutions. The Malians, Eritreans, and Sudanese huddling on rubber dinghies in the night-time waters of the Aegean Sea in hopes of making it to Europe did not build the shoddy apartment towers that collapsed in the country’s cataclysmic 6 February earthquakes. Nor did refugees botch recovery efforts afterwards.

Yet judging by the political manoeuvring and rhetoric by both president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the days after the inconclusive 14 May first round of presidential elections, the four million or so Syrian refugees and other foreigners in Turkey are about the only issue that matters in the upcoming 28 May runoff.

Kilicdaroglu, who performed worse than expected with only 45 per cent of the popular vote in the first round, has done a complete 180. For weeks, Kilicdaroglu campaigned on messages of hope and inclusion. He spoke of an impending spring, and made heart-shaped hand gestures in videos from his kitchen. He has now started making xenophobic rants, incorrectly accusing Erdogan of allowing “10 million” Syrian refugees in the country and warning that more are coming.