Is Russia interfering in Turkish elections?

The opposition reports on the interference of the special services of another country in the election campaign in Türkiye

The candidate for the presidency of Türkiye and the leader of the Republican People's Party, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, made a harsh statement against Moscow.

"Dear Russian friends, you are behind edited videos, frauds, and deep fakes. If you want to continue our friendship on May 15, take your hands off the Turkish state. We are still supporters of cooperation and friendship"

The other day, fake porn videos were circulated with the face of Muharrem Ince, who withdrew his candidacy from the race today. This brought discord within the opposition. Ince suspected the united opposition of machinations against him, which allegedly took revenge on him for refusing to support a single candidate.

In the evening, Kılıçdaroğlu accused Russia of intrigues, and Erdoğan's opponents consider Russia as his partner.

There are three days left before the historic elections in Türkiye. On Sunday, May 14, the Turks will elect the president and 600 members of the Mejlis.

The Turkish opposition considers the election campaign to be the dirtiest in the entire history of the republic.

The authorities tried to present the opposition as accomplices of terrorists from the Kurdistan Workers' Party. Fake posters with promises to release former terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan from life imprisonment were hung around the country.

Opposition leaders Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Meral Akşener were accused of trying to liquidate the Department of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and the State Housing Construction Company (TOKI).

They also tried to present themselves as opponents of the company "Baykar", which produces drones.

However, the opposition is most worried about the day of voting and the evening of counting the results.

In an interview with the Sözcü publication, the coordinator of the election tour of the opposition presidential candidate Erdoğan Toprak said: "The Republican People's Party is receiving evidence that the special services of one country are interfering in the elections."

To the clarifying question of journalist Ismail Saimaz, whether it is about Russia, Toprak answered in the affirmative. He added that relations between the two countries have turned into Moscow's relations with the Justice and Development Party, which is headed by Erdoğan.

The opposition insists that relations with Russia are important, but Moscow's current behavior is unacceptable and harms cooperation between the two countries.

The publication Sözcü reports that the opposition has no evidence of interference in the Turkish elections of countries other than Russia.