Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan led Saturday prayers at Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia mosque ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary and presidential ballot, which is being viewed as a battle for his political life against powerful secular rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
Erdogan is emulating a ritual that Ottoman sultans performed before they led their men off to war.
His Islamic-rooted party has been hit by anger over Turkey’s economic meltdown and a crackdown on civil liberties during Erdogan’s second decade of rule.
Six opposition parties have put aside their political and cultural differences and joined forces to push Erdogan out.
Erdogan trails Kilicdaroglu in most polls, and the opposition is hoping to break the 50-percent threshold and avoid a May 28 runoff that could give Erdogan a chance to regroup.
Erdogan has played up religious themes and culture wars to energise his conservative and nationalist base, branding the opposition as a “pro-LGBT” lobby.
