Erdogan accuses opposition of provocations ahead of tight Turkish vote

FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters during a rally ahead of the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections in Istanbul, Turkey, May 7, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused the opposition on Monday of provoking disorder and siding with terrorists, without providing evidence, in a fiery speech days before close and increasingly fractious elections.

Erdogan appeared to suggest his opponents had incited confrontations a day earlier when crowds threw stones at a key opposition figure in the eastern city of Erzurum, a stronghold of the president's AK Party (AKP).