President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his main opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu held massive rival rallies on Sunday, setting the stage for a bruising battle in the final two weeks of Turkey's election campaign.
Mr Erdogan showed no signs of an illness that sidelined him for three days last week as flag-waving supporters filled a central Ankara square that can fit a few hundred thousand people.
"Are we ready to come out with a crushing victory?" Mr Erdogan, 69, draped in a scarf of the Turkish capital's main football club, demanded from the enthusiastic crowd.
"On May 14, our nation, God willing, will eliminate them from the political scene," he said of secular leader Mr Kilicdaroglu and his six-party opposition alliance.
Mr Erdogan has bounced back strongly from what was described as a digestive problem in the run-up to one of Turkey's most important elections of its post-Ottoman history.
The illness shook the strongman image he has cultivated over two decades of economic booms and busts, social transformation and crackdowns on dissent.
"As you know I was sick recently, and from every house people were praying for me," Mr Erdogan told the crowd.
"I am trying to be worthy of those prayers."
Election rallies in Turkey ahead of May 14 elections - in pictures
Mr Kilicdaroglu, 74, and his multi-faceted alliance are posing Mr Erdogan's toughest election challenge since his Islamic-rooted party first swept to power in 2002.
Mr Erdogan became prime minister a year later, consolidating control as a powerful president under a new constitution in 2018.
The coming vote is too close to call and will probably lead to a run-off on May 28.
Mr Kilicdaroglu and his allies have fanned out across the country, holding daily events that are starting to get coverage on pro-government media.
He staged an equally massive rally along the embankment of the opposition-controlled Aegean city of Izmir, where Mr Erdogan drew slightly smaller crowds on Saturday.
"These elections are elections to rebuild our democracy," Mr Kilicdaroglu, a former civil servant, told the cheering crowd after walking on to the stage with his wife, Selvi.
"We will bring peace to this country, I will bring brotherhood to this country."
The massive turnout is a sign of the huge interest Turks have in the election, which has turned into a referendum on Mr Erdogan's rule.
His party is also in danger of losing control of Parliament, which it holds through an alliance with an ultra-nationalist group.
Mr Erdogan in 2019 lost landmark municipal votes in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir — Turkey's three biggest and most economically powerful cities.
But his decision to campaign in all three hints at the close nature of the vote.
"Ankara has a huge responsibility," Mr Erdogan told the crowd.
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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Torque: 623Nm
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Results
Men's finals
45kg:Duc Le Hoang (VIE) beat Zolfi Amirhossein (IRI) points 29-28. 48kg: Naruephon Chittra (THA) beat Joseph Vanlalhruaia (IND) TKO round 2.
51kg: Sakchai Chamchit (THA) beat Salam Al Suwaid (IRQ) TKO round 1. 54kg: Veerasak Senanue (THA) beat Huynh Hoang Phi (VIE) 30-25.
57kg: Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Tak Chuen Suen (MAC) RSC round 3. 60kg: Yerkanat Ospan (KAZ) beat Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) 30-27.
63.5kg: Abil Galiyev (KAZ) beat Nouredine Samir (UAE) 29-28. 67kg: Narin Wonglakhon (THA) beat Mohammed Mardi (UAE) 29-28.
71kg: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) w/o Shaker Al Tekreeti (IRQ). 75kg: Youssef Abboud (LBN) w/o Ayoob Saki (IRI).
81kg: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Khaled Tarraf (LBN) 29-28. 86kg: Ali Takaloo (IRI) beat Emil Umayev (KAZ) 30-27.
91kg: Hamid Reza Kordabadi (IRI) beat Mohamad Osaily (LBN) RSC round 1. 91-plus kg: Mohammadrezapoor Shirmohammad (IRI) beat Abdulla Hasan (IRQ) 30-27.
Women's finals
45kg: Somruethai Siripathum (THA) beat Ha Huu Huynh (VIE) 30-27. 48kg: Thanawan Thongduang (THA) beat Colleen Saddi (PHI) 30-27.
51kg: Wansawang Srila Or (THA) beat Thuy Phuong Trieu (VIE) 29-28. 54kg: Ruchira Wongsriwo (THA) beat Zeinab Khatoun (LBN) 30-26.
57kg: Sara Idriss (LBN) beat Zahra Nasiri Bargh (IRI) 30-27. 60kg: Kaewrudee Kamtakrapoom (THA) beat Sedigheh Hajivand (IRI) TKO round 2.
63.5kg: Nadiya Moghaddam (IRI) w/o Reem Al Issa (JOR).
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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The years Ramadan fell in May
The years Ramadan fell in May
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
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Price: On request
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
OIL PLEDGE
At the start of Russia's invasion, IEA member countries held 1.5 billion barrels in public reserves and about 575 million barrels under obligations with industry, according to the agency's website. The two collective actions of the IEA this year of 62.7 million barrels, which was agreed on March 1, and this week's 120 million barrels amount to 9 per cent of total emergency reserves, it added.
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