Kurds fear Erdogan win amid sharper nationalist rhetoric


FILE PHOTO: Pro-Kurdish Green Left Party supporters attend a rally ahead of the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections, in Diyarbakir, Turkey May 13, 2023. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo

ISTANBUL/DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) - Kurds opposed to President Tayyip Erdogan fear victory for him in Turkey's presidential election could reinforce a crackdown the state has been waging against them for years, alarmed by a surge in nationalist rhetoric ahead of Sunday's vote.

Kurds, who make up around a fifth of Turkey's population, have been seen as potentially crucial to the opposition's hopes of ending Erdogan's 20 years in power - a reign in which he first courted but then cracked down hard on Kurdish groups.

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