Poll Loss Would Not Be the End of Erdogan

Mr Erdogan and his party have waged a ferocious campaign, as if they were fighting for their lives and liberty. This is not far off the truth, since they know that, if they lose power, their triumphant opponents will not hesitate to initiate corruption trials against them. Turkish politics is merciless towards losers. Mr Erdogan is ceaselessly combative and on the attack. “He takes no hostages,” said my friend who had used the Dracula analogy. He pointed to the case of two children, aged 12 and 13, in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir who are reported to have been arrested for “insulting the Turkish president” because they tore down posters of Mr Erdogan. The children, who are cousins and are known only by their initials RY and RT, now face up to two years and four months in prison. Explaining they did not even know whose face was on the posters, RY said: “We just wanted to remove them in order to sell them to a junk dealer.”