Antakya: A campaign poster featuring Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gazing down at Antakya's earthquake-damaged buildings gives Ahmet Gulyildizoglu hope ahead of Sunday's runoff election.

On May 14, millions of people in the devastated area defied expectations and cast ballots for the man who has ruled Turkiye for 20 years but narrowly missed winning a second five-year term. 

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan's secular rival, "does not fill you with hope," Gulyildizoglu said in front of a demolished area where his six-story apartment building once stood.

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The pensioner continued, "On the other hand, you have an alliance that keeps their promises," referring to Erdogan's party and its far-right allies.

A campaign poster featuring Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gazing down at Antakya's earthquake-damaged buildings gives Ahmet Gulyildizoglu hope ahead of Sunday's runoff election.

On May 14, millions of people in the devastated area defied expectations and cast ballots for the man who has ruled Turkiye for 20 years but narrowly missed winning a second five-year term. 

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Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan's secular rival, "does not fill you with hope," Gulyildizoglu said in front of a demolished area where his six-story apartment building once stood.

The pensioner continued, "On the other hand, you have an alliance that keeps their promises," referring to Erdogan's party and its far-right allies.

Aside from that, "the opposition did not campaign heavily in the area and could not offer an alternative, credible message," Esen said.
Kilicdaroglu is drastically altering his course rather than giving up.

Kilicdaroglu has adopted a stridently nationalist tone, abandoning his embracing pledges to mend Turkiye's social divisions in favour of vowing to expel millions of Syrians and other migrants.

Cities near Syria's border, like Antakya, a mountain-rimmed cradle of civilization formerly known as Antioch, are resonant with the message.
Antakya is covered in posters by Kilicdaroglu that read, "The Syrians will go."

On a visit to Antakya on Tuesday, the 74-year-old said, "We will not turn Turkiye into a depot for migrants. Mehmet Aynaci, 20, who attributes Syrians to the region's housing issues, was pleased with the tough talk.

Before the earthquake, there were many Syrians to be found if you were looking for a flat, according to Aynaci. Of course they have to leave," Atilla Celtik, one of the few people still in the nearly deserted city with Aynaci, continued.

They'll eventually ask for our land, he predicted. "We're concerned,"
Kilicdaroglu had a slight advantage over Erdogan in this debate due to the historically liberal lean of Antakya's Hatay province.

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Only three of the 11 earthquake-affected provinces, including this one, voted against the president. Future electoral success for Kilicdaroglu will partly depend on how many people who fled the disaster area are eager to return for the runoff.

A deadline of April 2 passed without nearly 1.7 million of the displaced people changing their registration address, so they must re-register to vote.