The election campaign in Turkey is picking up speed. The Turkish President wants to make life more difficult for gays and lesbians in the future. Meanwhile, his social-democratic opponent, Kilicdaroglu, is campaigning for the approval of Erdogan's traditional voters with a headscarf guarantee.
To strengthen the traditional family, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announces steps against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) people. "Because a strong nation requires a strong family," Erdogan said, according to the state news agency Anadolu. "Lately they've been foisting LGBT into society. With LGBT, they're striving to degenerate our family structure." Therefore one must do "what is necessary".
Erdogan did not name any specific names in his accusation - but he probably means the Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who also addresses liberal groups of voters. He is being traded as a possible candidate for the presidential elections scheduled for June 2023. Kilicdaroglu immediately responded on Twitter and called Erdogan a "despot".
At the same time, Erdogan made it clear that his hopes for action against LGBT people also rest on the so-called disinformation law: "By passing this law, we will, God willing, put the brakes on them," Erdogan said, according to Anadolu. The Turkish President is referring to a planned law that the government says should prevent disinformation on the Internet. The opposition, on the other hand, fears that it will lead to stricter censorship on the Internet. The provision still has to be passed by Parliament - the previous day Parliament had approved some articles of the draft law.
Also in response to his competitor Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan called on Wednesday for the right to wear a headscarf to be enshrined in the constitution with the help of the opposition. "Let's find a solution at the constitutional level, not at the legal level," Erdogan said at a meeting of his conservative Islamic AK party in Ankara. Opposition leader Kilicdaroglu had previously submitted a bill to parliament that would guarantee the right to wear a headscarf in public authorities and institutions. Accordingly, women should not be restricted in their basic rights when choosing their clothes.
Erdogan criticized that the text presented to Parliament was far from covering the problem in all its dimensions. The head of state accused the opposition of "hypocrisy" because it was thanks to his ruling party to secure such rights in the past. The AKP, which has been in power since 2002, gradually lifted a headscarf ban in public institutions.
Kilicdaroglu surprised with his initiative for the headscarf because his party, the social-democratic CHP, traditionally upholds the separation of state and religious institutions as one of the pillars of the Turkish republic. Observers assume that the opposition leader would like to win voters from Erdogan's traditional milieu for his party. The parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled for next June. The election campaign is gaining momentum.
