Turkey President Erdogan launches election campaign, promises to boost economic growth

As Turkey goes to polls on May 14, President Tayyip Erdogan launched his re-election campaign on Tuesday with a focus on slashing inflation to single digits and boosting economic growth. Erdogan has held the post of president for over two decades now.

Erdogan is facing his toughest battle yet ever since the AK Party came to power in 2002. Polls show that amid increasing inflation due to certain unorthodox economic policies, Erdogan is losing support in the country.

"We will continue to grow our economy through investment, employment, production, exports and current surplus. We will bring inflation back down to single digits and definitely save our country from this problem," he told a stadium crowd in Ankara.

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Aggressive interest rate cuts implemented by Erdogan led to inflation rising to a 24-year peak above 85 per cent in October before it dipped to nearly 50 per cent in March. The country is facing a cost-of-living crisis because of this.

"We will improve the investment further with a structure based on a free-market economy integrated with the world," the ruling party's manifesto said. It added that the party is aiming for annual growth of 5.5 per cent in 2024-2028 and a GDP of $1.5 trillion by the end of 2028.

In the race to retain the presidency, Erdogan will be up against the main opposition alliance candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu. A survey by pollster Metropoll says that 42.6 per cent of respondents would vote for Kilicdaroglu and 41.1 per cent for Erdogan in the first round of voting.

Earlier, following the devastating earthquake on February 6, there were speculations that the election date might change. However, Erdogan said that the schedule for polls will remain the same.

(With inputs from agencies)

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