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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a mega-rally for his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul on Sunday, one week before the country's general election.

Erdogan was hoping to stay ahead of the curve after coming up against more opposition than he bargained for during the campaign.

"Are you in for a strong Turkey on June 24? Will you make history on June 24?" Erdogan asked the crowd of tens of thousands, who answered "yes" in unison and chanted his name.

Although Turkey was not due to hold a vote until November 2019, the government called for early elections in April. Many observers have suggested that this was part of Erdogan's tactic to create a stronger executive presidency in Turkey, and give the opposition less time to mount a substantial challenge.

However, rival Muharrem Ince of the center-left Republican People's Party (CHP) has managed to give Erdogan a run for his money with his dynamism and charisma. Although Erdogan is still the favorite to win next week's election, he faces what will likely be his toughest challenge at the ballot box yet and it may well lead to a run-off vote.

Erdogan refuses TV debate

Earlier on Sunday, Turkey's Hurriyet daily reported that Erdogan had refused an offer from Ince to participate in a live TV debate. Erdogan cited Ince's criticism ofsome planned "mega projects" of Erdogan's as grounds for denying the request.

Erdogan has said he would like to see a third bridge across the Bosporus and a canal in Istanbul to ease traffic, but Ince has said the projects were full of hidden expenses and would come at a cost totaxpayers.

Both Erdogan and Ince have been holding multiple rallies daily in the run-up to the election in a last-ditch attempt to sway voters.

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Turkey's Erdogan holds mega-rally as rival whips up ...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hinting that the country could lift its state of emergency after elections this month, AFP reported.

The state of emergency has been in place since a failed coup two years ago and has already been extended seven times, the last time being in April.

After the elections, we will discuss the state of emergency in detail and there could be the question of lifting it, Erdogan said during a televised interview broadcast late Thursday.

The Turkish leader, who is facing stiff opposition for presidential and legislative polls on June 24, has previously insisted that the emergency measures would not be lifted until the terrorist threat is completely eliminated from the country.

Turkish courts have so far handed jail terms to more than 2,000 suspects over the failed 2016 coup aimed at unseating Erdogan, a government minister said this month.

Thousands of people including soldiers, police officers and judges have been arrested in a broad crackdown since the attempted putsch.

Ankara argues the state of emergency is needed to eradicate the influence in Turkish institutions of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who it blames for the failed coup. Gulen denies involvement in the attempted coup and condemned it. He has hinted that the uprising could have been staged by the government.

Gulen, who leads a popular movement called Hizmet from exile, split from Erdogan over a corruption scandal in 2013. Erdogan has long accused him of running a parallel state from abroad.

The opposition has accused Erdogan of using the state of emergency to silence critics.

(Arutz Shevas North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)

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Erdogan: State of emergency could be lifted after election ...

Turkeys election this month could go down to the wire, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan facing a tougher battle to cement power or even an upset, according to a poll commissioned by Bloomberg.

Erdogan can win the presidential vote in the first round on June 24 with 50.8 percent support and get the backing of a majority in parliament, the survey by Foresight Danismanlik of 500 people on June 7-11 found. But a surprise victory for the opposition is also within the margin of error.

The key takeaway is that any array of options is possible and the only certainty is that it will be very close. Erdogan and his AK party cant win alone, and in previous elections they got the support of religious conservatives, free-market liberals or Kurds to govern. Now success hinges on how voters identifying as nationalist cast their ballot, the poll found.

President Erdogan can clear victory in the first round, opposition surprise possible

Source: Foresight for Bloomberg News

The most powerful factor tilting the result in Erdogans favor is the unwavering devotion to him and his AK party. Very few core supporters can imagine themselves voting for anyone else even as the deterioration of the economy looms large. But nationalists have been deserting their traditional party.

Erdogan always needed and will need coalitions," said Mert Yildiz, a former senior emerging-markets economist for Roubini Global Economics in London who co-founded Foresight in March 2017. Even if Erdogan wins both the parliament and the presidency, political uncertainty is unlikely to end."

The survey is Foresights first for Bloomberg, and the first of its kind in Turkey. The pollster selected a district based on various demographic and socio-economic characteristics and one that voted in line with the past three election results.

The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points, wider than that of a typical poll because of the smaller sample size. (For more on the methodology, see the end of the story.)

Erdogans closest opponent for the presidency is Muharrem Ince of the CHP. He polled at 30.1 percent. Ince was followed by pro-Kurdish HDP candidate Selahattin Demirtas, who despite running his campaign from prison, polled at 10.5 percent. Former Interior Minister Meral Aksener of the new Iyi Party polled 8 percent, trailing most expectations.

Should the presidential race go to a second round run-off, Erdogans lead would be more substantial, the polling showed. The parliamentary vote, though, is more complicated.

Crucially, Demirtass party also polled above the 10 percent threshold that will allow its deputies to enter parliament and possibly deprive Erdogan of a supportive legislature.

HDP was on course to take 11.7 percent of the vote, compared with just 4.5 percent for the nationalist MHP. Deputies from MHP will enter parliament regardless because of their alliance with Erdogans AKP, which polled 46 percent. Inces CHP was on 27.5 percent for the parliamentary vote and Iyi at 9 percent. Both Erdogan and Ince are significantly more popular than their respective political parties.

Erdogan's AK Party, and ally nationalist MHP can get the majority of available 600 seats

Source: Foresight for Bloomberg News

Even though Erdogan is likely to win power, the true winner of these elections will be Muharrem Ince," said Foresight, which advises Turkish municipalities and conducts polls on their behalf.

The economy is the most pressing concern for voters, with 34.2 percent of respondents saying its the nations most important problem. That was followed by 17.7 percent who said terrorism and 13.5 percent who named unemployment.

The vote comes after the lira plunged in value and soaring inflation, making economic performance a liability for Erdogan for the first time in his 15 years leading the country.

Read More: Turkeys Bonds, Lira Slide for a Third Day

The president has unnerved investors with unconventional theories on economic fundamentals and attacks against the central bank. That was exacerbated when, in an interview with Bloomberg Television in London on May 14, Erdogan said hed look to take greater control of monetary policy after the vote.

But while a plurality of respondents -- 35.9 percent -- said their living standards had gotten worse in the past year, very few of his supporters are likely to turn on him. Only 4.6 percent of AKP voters said theyd vote for Ince.

Despite the excitement around the opposition parties and candidates campaigns, none of the candidates can truly steal votes from Erdogan loyalist AKP voters," Foresight said.

Its new, something that hasnt been tested before in Turkey. What we did was instead of taking the whole country, we found this tiny little village that has predicted the past three elections closely. You see all colors of Turkey in that little neighborhood. You sample randomly there, and then you can weight the results for the general population. Theres a caveat that this is a small neighborhood that might have changed in the past three years, but I dont think it did.

With assistance by Fercan Yalinkilic

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Erdogan Fights to Keep Power as Bloomberg Poll Shows Tight ...

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Investors hammered Turkeys lira on Tuesday, sending it to a record low after President Tayyip Erdogan said he plans to take greater control of the economy after next months election, deepening concerns about his influence on monetary policy.

Erdogans comments, in an interview with Bloomberg Television in London, reinforced long-standing worries about the central banks ability to fight double-digit inflation amid the presidents drive for lower interest rates.

He said the central bank, while independent, would not be able to ignore signals from the new executive presidency that comes into effect after the June polls. A self-described enemy of interest rates, Erdogan wants borrowing costs lowered to fuel credit and new construction.

I will take the responsibility as the indisputable head of the executive in respect of the steps to be taken and decisions on these issues, he said in the interview broadcast on Tuesday.

Turkey has called snap presidential and parliamentary elections for June 24 and polls show Erdogan as the strongest candidate to win the presidential vote. Turks narrowly backed a switch to an executive presidency in a referendum last year. That change is due to go into effect after the vote.

Erdogan's comments helped pushed the ailing lira TRYTOM=D3 to a fresh record low of 4.4604 against the dollar, bringing its decline this year to more than 14 percent.

It clawed back some of its losses after one of his advisers, Cemil Ertem, said the central bank had the independence to use all the tools at its disposal.

Yields on 10-year government bonds TR10YT=RR briefly touched their highest since at least January 2010.

To view a graphic on Lira and emerging market currency performance, YTD, click: reut.rs/2wGQ5cm

Centralization of power and interference in the monetary policy is a concern to us, said Dietmar Hornung, an associate managing director and head of European Sovereigns at ratings agency Moodys, at a conference in London.

However, Erdogans economic adviser Ertem said the reduction of rates was a general target, rather than a specific aim of the banks next rate-setting meeting on June 7 - comments likely designed to take some pain off the lira.

President Erdogans emphasis is not directed towards June 7. What the president says is that interest rates should be reduced as a target, he told Reuters.

Erdogan said citizens would ultimately hold the president responsible for any problems generated by monetary policy.

They will hold the president accountable. Since they will ask the president about it, we have to give off the image of a president who is effective in monetary policies, he said.

This may make some uncomfortable. But we have to do it. Because its those who rule the state who are accountable to the citizens, he said.

He also said Halkbank (HALKB.IS) executive Mehmet Hakan Atilla, who was found guilty by a U.S. court of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions, was innocent and Turkey wanted his acquittal.

If Hakan Atilla is going to be declared a criminal, that would be almost equivalent to declaring the Turkish Republic a criminal, he said.

To view a graphic on Turkey inflation and central bank funding, click: reut.rs/2rhsMkh

Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London; Writing by Daren Butler and David Dolan; Editing by Janet Lawrence

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Turkey's Erdogan plans to take greater control of economy ...

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said the United States should look at its own actions if it wants the return of an American Christian pastor who has been jailed in Turkey for suspected links to a 2016 failed coup.

Erdogan made the comment in a live interview with broadcaster NTV.

Andrew Brunson, who has lived in Turkey for more than two decades, was indicted on charges of helping the group that Ankara holds responsible for the failed coup against Erdogan. He faces up to 35 years in prison. Brunson denies the charges.

Erdogan has previously linked Brunsons fate to that of the cleric Fethullah Gulen, the Muslim cleric Turkey blames for the coup attempt. Gulen has lived in the United States since 1999 and denies the charges. Turkey is seeking his extradition from the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump and dozens of U.S. senators have urged Erdogan to release Brunson.

Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Gareth Jones

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Turkey's Erdogan says U.S. should look at its own actions ...