At an Afghan restaurant in Istanbul’s popular Zeytinburnu district, the scent of kabuli pulao – a heady concoction of steaming rice, marinated lamb and roasted almonds – mingles with the scent of herbs delicately sprinkled over mantu ravioli dumplings.
A lone waiter brings glasses of “çai zafran” – saffron tea, with a beaming smile. But this afternoon, hardly anyone is there and the few seated guests have other worries than the sweet smells wafting from the kitchen.
“I feel it. I feel it. I hear it’s been going up for several months,” worries Mansour Tawab* while sipping his digestive tea.
Mansour Tawab at an Afghan restaurant in Istanbul’s Zeytinburnu district, May 25, 2023. © Leela Jacinto, France 24
Mansour Tawab is referring here to the sickening odor of the ultranationalist wave sweeping the Turkish country as the second round of presidential elections draws near on May 28 between outgoing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
The 37-year-old Afghan national, who holds a residence permit, can legally live and work in Turkey but cannot vote. However, the political speeches that blossomed between the two rounds shocked him deeply and challenged his deepest beliefs.
The economy in the background
The focus of Turkey’s elections in 2023 should be on the economy, with the opposition campaigning with falling living standards and skyrocketing inflation, allegedly caused by President Erdogan’s unorthodox monetary policies, which he said have failed despite rising prices wanted to keep interest rates low.
But in the tense weeks leading up to Sunday’s runoff, hard-line nationalism pushed the economy into the background, and refugees became a prime target for candidates trying to mobilize the various fringes of Turkey’s ultranationalism.
This electoral maneuver prompted the Social Democrat Kemal Kilicdaroglu in particular to escalate his anti-refugee rhetoric and forge unholy alliances with the extreme right. On Wednesday, Ümit Özdag, leader of the Victory Party, a xenophobic formation founded in 2021 that calls for the expulsion of all refugees, supported Kemal Kilicdaroglu on the home stretch of this nationalist election campaign.
Announcing the alliance in Ankara, Ümit Özdag said his party and Kemal Kilicdaroglu had agreed on a plan to return the migrants within a year “in accordance with international law and human rights”.
“A Chance to Live Again”
Six years after arriving in Turkey in 2012, Ahmad Ajjan, a 44-year-old translator from Aleppo, was given a new nationality and a new name. His Syrian surname was a problem in his adopted country. “Ajjan” is actually very similar to the Turkish word “ajan” which means agent or spy. An immigration officer therefore asked him to choose a Turkish surname, and in the excitement of the moment he settled on “Erdogan”.
Ajjan therefore allows two names to coexist, reflecting its dual identity. “I’m Ahmad Ajjan and my official name is Ahmet Erdogan,” he explains.
On the other hand, his political color is clear. “I support Erdogan because he gave me a chance to live again,” he said, recalling that he fled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on protesters and anti-government activists.
However, Ahmad Ajjan, an unconditional supporter of the Turkish president, feels at odds with his new Turkish name today. “I am very happy when I meet supporters of President Erdogan. I’m very unhappy when I meet Erdogan’s opponents,” he said.
See also “Polarizing in order to govern better”, Erdogan’s successful electoral strategy
He feels that his new surname has sometimes cost him jobs in the translation industry. “Some people told me it was impossible to think of working with me again with that name,” he says.
Ahmad Ajjan voted for Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the 2018 presidential election and the first round of the 2023 election on May 14. On Sunday he will vote again for the leader who gave him the chance to live safely, he says.
“Erdogan has a program, he has a plan for 2050, 2071, these opposition politicians have no plan after the election. Also, I support Erdogan for another reason: from an Islamic point of view, he supports Muslims around the world,” he told Ahmad Ajjan.
“Put everything on the backs of the Syrians”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a key supporter of anti-Assad groups during the war in Syria and provided refuge to mostly Sunni Muslims fleeing the Ba’athist regime. This makes Turkey the only neighboring country of Syria that grants citizenship to Syrians on a large scale.
Gradually, however, the Turks, who were hit by a deep economic crisis, grew resentful of these foreigners, who benefited from free education and health care. With 3.7 million refugees on its territory, Turkey is now the largest host country in the world, according to the United Nations.
Some of the population even suspected that Recep Tayyip Erdogan wanted to use these newcomers to expand his electoral base. According to the Interior Ministry, Turkey has granted citizenship to more than 200,000 Syrians since the 2011 uprising against the regime in Damascus. From an electoral point of view, an insignificant number in this country of 84 million people.
“Turks like to enjoy life. When the economy gets tough, they complain. And when they complain, they blame the Syrian refugees,” Ahmad Ajjan regretted “Erdogan”.
In the May 14 general election, nationalists and ultra-nationalists won 22% of the vote, putting political figures like Ümit Özdag and presidential candidate Sinan Ogan in the position of kingmakers ahead of Sunday’s second round.
See also Winning Ultranationalism? Right-wing extremist arguments dominate the election campaign
A few days after the first ballot, while the opposition was still struggling with Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 49.5% vote, Kemal Kilicdaroglu released a campaign video in which he promised to bring “ten million refugees” back to his homeland if he wins the election.
“I am very worried about my future”
Over a sumptuous Afghan lunch in Istanbul’s Zeytinburnu district, Mansour Tawab describes himself as a man of the left who is positive about Kemal Kilicdaroglu and opposed to the authoritarian turn of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan again in August 2021, Mansour Tawab was in Turkey, where he was pursuing a master’s degree in business administration. The young Afghan, who worked for NGOs in Kabul, has not set foot in his country since then and has not seen his family for two years.
Mansour Tawab explains that Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s speech on the “ten million refugees” had the effect of being stabbed with a knife. “I’m really disappointed with his speech. We’re not here to have fun. We’re here to add value, to work hard, and we’re being asked to leave immediately just to get votes. I’m very worried about my future,” he said.
A veteran Afghan working for an American company from Istanbul, Mansour Tawab is doing better than many of his countrymen. But as anti-immigrant sentiment mounts, Mansour Tawab is not immune to police discrimination and harassment.
“I live ten kilometers away [du quartier de Zeytinburnu]. I used to come here to eat, but now I don’t come as often because I’m scared,” he said.
Zeytinburnu has long been a neighborhood of Afghan immigrants, a symbol of the historical and cultural ties between the two countries. In recent years it has become a starting point for those who want to reach Europe. While the more affluent members of the community reside in other parts of Istanbul, Zeytinburnu’s authentic cuisine continues to attract many Afghans looking to rediscover a taste of their country.
Zeytinburnu has long been a neighborhood of Afghan immigrants, a symbol of historical and cultural ties between Turkey and Afghanistan. © Leela Jacinto, France 24
“When I come here, I always carry three pieces of identification with me: my residence card, my driving license and my passport. I’m a legal resident, but I’m always afraid of being arrested. The police are constantly checking us to check our identity papers and sometimes, even if we have valid identity papers, we are taken to the detention center and detained for hours before we are released,” he laments.
He admits that this election campaign shook his sense of security and his political ideals. “I understand why Kemal Kilicdaroglu is acting like this. I understand why citizens don’t appreciate the fact that five million refugees arrive and enjoy free education and health care,” he explains.
“But today I would prefer it if Erdogan won this election,” continues Mansour Tawab. “It’s a very selfish desire, but my life and safety are more important than the person running this country.”
(*Name has been changed.)
Article adapted from the English by Grégoire Sauvage. You can find the original here.