Erdogan attacks opposition as Germany's Ozdemir sees strong opponent

A week before key elections in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu a "drunk," while a leading German politician of Turkish decent says the opposition is stronger than ever.

There were also reports of violence against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of the main opposition CHP party. Imamoglu supports Kılıçdaroğlu's presidential bid and is scheduled to become vice president in case the opposition candidate emerges victorious from next week's elections.

Turks go to the polls on 14 May for parliamentary and presidential elections, with some 1.5 million of the 3.5 million "people of Turkish origin" living in Germany eligible to vote, according to German Green politician Cem Özdemir (pictured above), who is of Turkish decent. Özdemir believes the opposition is closer to victory than it has been in years.

"All the polls predict that," Özdemir, who is Germany's Minister of Agriculture, told the Sunday evening "Heute Journal" news show on public broadcaster ZDF. "Who would have thought that the votes from Germany would be so important for Erdoğan?" he said.

Erdoğan has counted on strong support from Turkish voters living in Germany previously, but Özdemir noted one had to be careful about that today. In the last election 45% of eligible Turkish voters in Germany actually voted and of those 65% voted for Erdoğan, he said. "This puts into perspective the image that all people of Turkish origin are pro-Erdoğan.

Özdemir's parents are Turkish immigrants but he is not a Turkish citizen and can therefore not vote.

Meanwhile, speaking during his campaign's largest rally so far, Erdoğan called Kılıçdaroğlu a "drunk" on Sunday. Addressing hundreds of thousands of supporters in Istanbul, Erdoğan said Kılıçdaroğlu could drink as much as he wanted, the people would not abandon the country to a "drunkard".  Erdoğan is appealing to conservative Muslims, who don't drink, as alcohol is not permitted in Islam. The Turkish president also once again accused his challenger of working with "terrorists".

Erdoğan, who recently had to take a break from campaigning due to illness, is known for his harsh rhetoric targeting not only the opposition but also minorities, including the LGBTQ community.

Erdoğan gave the number of participants at his event in Istanbul as 1.7 million. Kılıçdaroğlu also appeared at a large event in front of numerous supporters in Istanbul on Saturday. There was no official estimate on the number of participants.

Meanwhile tensions are high in Turkey, with several people injured after stones were thrown during an appearance by Imamoglu in eastern Turkey, he said on Sunday evening.

In a video posted on Twitter, Imamoglu said a group of people had thrown stones at him in the afternoon as he was giving a speech from the roof of his campaign bus. At least nine people in the crowd were injured, he said. His party, the CHP, circulated images of people with head injuries. (dpa)