MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. The Turkish public has demonstrated "political maturity" by ignoring the destructive anti-Russian rhetoric of leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party Kemal Kilicdaroglu and denying voter support for him, a Russian political analyst told TASS on Monday.
Turkey’s foreign policy is quite pragmatic and "is by and large motivated by the economic situation," Andrey Bystritsky, chairman of the Board of the Valdai Discussion Club Foundation, said, adding that relations with Russia are important for the Turkish economy from every angle, both in the tourism and trade sectors as well as in terms of large-scale energy and logistics projects that raise the country’s geopolitical clout.
"Kilicdaroglu has recently allowed himself to make a number of harsh statements [against Russia], which [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan never did. These statements did not play to his favor," he said. "The Turkish people, who supported Erdogan, are set for positive cooperation, including with Russia. <…> Many ignored [this rhetoric]. In voting for Erdogan, the lion’s share of Turkey’s citizens have demonstrated which course it supports."
According to the analyst, Erdogan’s victory at Sunday’s runoff presidential election "shows the political maturity of the Turkish people." "A leader supported by the majority has won in Turkey in a hard political struggle with a quite healthy margin under present-day democratic standards," Bystritsky stressed. "There are no serious questions about the procedure. The people had a mature approach to the elections."
The expert noted that Kilicdaroglu’s anti-Russian statements were probably meant "to attract the attention of Western elites." It was a kind of a "message to the West to show more support for him," Bystritsky said, adding that this message did not resonate and cost him crucial support.
As a NATO member, Turkey plays an important role in the alliance’s strategy in Asia and it would be unwise of the West to "irritate" it by speaking out against Erdogan, the expert explained, adding that it "would be irrational" to think that Kilicdaroglu would have made any radical changes had he won the race.
A runoff presidential election was held in Turkey on May 28. According to preliminary data from the Supreme Election Council, after 99.43% of ballots were counted, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had secured 52.14% of votes cast, while his rival, opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, carried 47.86% of the vote.