There was no pretense of impartiality when President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan began his rallying cry in the western province of U\u015fak on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Although the emblems of the ruling Justice and Development Party were nowhere to be seen, flag waving crowds filling the town square had no illusion what the ribbon-cutting ceremony and the heated speech by the President were for.<\/p>\n
I went to the main square of my home town an hour before the President\u2019s convoy arrived.<\/p>\n
Men, women and children, steadily filing out of the buses were each handed a Turkish flag on a stick before being searched and let into the fenced off area. Some were encouraged to buy football-fan style red scarves with the President\u2019s stern image embossed on them for 10 lira each.<\/p>\n
Noticing large numbers of attendants wearing baseball caps with the symbol of the municipality, I wanted to know if the workers were given the afternoon off and required to attend the President\u2019s election rally. Some said yes, they had to come. Others seemed embarrassed to admit it. One told me, angrily, to go and stand inside the female-only area in front of the stage.<\/p>\n
The crowd was instructed by the official cheerleader to chant their undying support for their brethren in Palestine, Jerusalem, Bosnia and Myanmar. I could not help wonder how many knew where or even what Myanmar was.<\/p>\n
Every time the rain got heavier, the warm-up ritual became singing of a song known as the \u201cDombra\u201d, based on a Central Asian folk tune and turned into a eulogy for Erdogan. The fact that its use during the election campaign was banned by The Supreme Election Board (YSK) did not seem to bother anyone.<\/p>\n
Neither did they question why the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new hospital was happening three months after the actual opening and ten days before the general election.<\/p>\n
The President praised the great people of Usak for \u201calways standing by the cause\u201d.\u00a0 Reminding the 1960 military coup that took place exactly 55 years ago on this day, and the subsequent execution of the then prime minister Adnan Menderes, Mr Erdogan targeted the main opposition The Republican People\u2019s Party (CHP). Against all historical evidence, he claimed that the country\u2019s second president Ismet In\u00f6n\u00fc,\u00a0 a former leader of CHP and the politician credited with taking Turkey into a multi-party system, was the man who had asked for Menderes to be hanged.<\/p>\n
The crowd booed enthusiastically every time the name of In\u00f6n\u00fc was mentioned.<\/p>\n