ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned voters that victory in May elections for the broadest-ever opposition alliance against his 20-year rule would be a catastrophe for the country.

“We cannot leave Turkey at the mercy of a coalition that is multifaceted, greedy and lacking direction,” Mr Erdogan said at a meeting of provincial heads of his AK Party, via videoconference on Saturday.

“We cannot allow such a disaster.” 

Mr Erdogan is sharpening his rhetoric as the country braces itself for elections on May 14 against a backdrop of high inflation and criticism of the government’s response to devastating earthquakes that struck the country in early February.

Mr Erdogan officially kicked off the toughest election campaign of his career on Friday, bringing elections forward by more than a month to May 14 from the original date of June 18. 

He is up against an opposition bloc known as the Nation Alliance, which promises to dismantle the executive presidential system he introduced five years ago and return to orthodox economic policies. 

“All elections are difficult,” Mr Erdogan said. “But the critical developments in our region and in the world have set the vote on May 14 apart from others.”

He has criticised the opposition’s pledge to govern through consensus, saying it would mark a return to the bickering coalitions that produced decades of instability before he rose to power in 2002. BLOOMBERG