ANKARA — As Sinan Ogan tells, he has suddenly become the most wanted man in Turkey.
The far-right nationalist and third-place finisher in last weekend’s presidential election, Mr Ogan told DailyExpertNews that he has been answering calls all week, from cabinet members to opposition leaders and even President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office. They all want the same thing: to help somehow court his critical swing voters in the May 28 runoff between the two frontrunners.
“Very busy,” said Mr. Ogan at his office in the capital Ankara on Tuesday afternoon. “I’ve spent my last three or four days negotiating issues with such high-ranking people.”
Mr Ogan and other far-right nationalists showed strong support in Sunday’s presidential and parliamentary elections, prioritizing national security and defending what they see as Turkish identity. In particular, they advocate tough positions on the more than 3.3 million Syrian refugees.
Since the vote, Mr. Ogan has been called everything from a spoiler, who blocked the top presidential candidates from outright victory, to a kingmaker whose supporters could play a role in deciding the runoff. That has given him a sudden punch, evidenced by the deluge of phone calls he says he’s received this week.
The strong performance of nationalists in this election is likely to pull Turkish government policy further to the right in coming years, especially with regard to the country’s Kurdish minority and Syrian refugees.
In the May 14 vote, Erdogan won 49.5 percent, while his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, won about 44.8 percent. Mr Ogan won a surprising 5.2 percent.
With his comfortable lead in the first round, Mr Erdogan now looks poised to win the second round, especially if Mr Ogan’s large number of voters support him. Analysts said they expected more of those voters to vote for Erdogan over his challenger.
Mr Ogan, 55, is a former MP and expert on the Caucasus, speaks Russian and holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations from a Moscow university.
He said he expects to announce his approval around Thursday and expects 70 percent of his supporters to follow his recommendation. But political analysts are less sure, noting that Ogan lacks a powerful party machinery to rally voters. And many of his supporters may have chosen him to protest against the top contenders, and could skip the second round.
Mr Ogan said he has demands in return for giving his support to a candidate, all aimed at advancing nationalist causes. First, he wants a planned plan to deport the refugees from many countries, including Syria and Afghanistan. And in exchange for approving a candidate, he also wants a very high position in the new government to push through his demands.
“Why should I be a minister when I can be vice president?” he said.
He declined to say whether he was leaning towards a particular candidate.
He said he admired Mr Erdogan’s work ethic, but also criticized him for not consulting enough with others before making decisions. Mr. Kilicdarolu, he said, was not working very hard, but much soliciting the opinion of others.
The opposition camp overlaps with the far right on some issues, including a desire to send the Syrian refugees home, and could step up its efforts to influence nationalist voters ahead of the second round.
Idris Sahin, an official at DEVA, one of the opposition parties supporting Mr Kilicdaroglu, said his party had conducted a “sociological inquiry” into Mr Ogan’s voters and would soon launch a campaign against them.
On Wednesday, Mr Kilicdaroglu released a campaign video attacking Mr Erdogan and his party with harsh nationalist rhetoric.
“The border is an honour,” said Mr Kilicdaroglu, referring to the president allowing millions of refugees from Syria and elsewhere to settle in Turkey. He called the refugees an “unmanageable stream of people flowing in our veins every day” and warned that their numbers would increase and “threaten our survival!”
Mr Ogan declined to answer directly when asked if he had spoken to Mr Erdogan about a possible approval. Officials from Mr Erdogan’s party and the opposition have not publicly commented on negotiations with Mr Ogan.
“I talk to everyone,” he said.
Among other demands from Mr Ogan, he said he does not want any political party he believes linked to terrorism – a term the government often uses to refer to Kurdish militants – to play a role in the government.
He specifically mentioned two parties: the Free Cause Party, a hardline Islamist party linked to Mr Erdogan, and the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, which supported Mr Kilicdaroglu.
The first sprang from an underground Islamist organization known for murdering journalists, intellectuals and others in previous decades. The party’s current leaders say they reject violence.
Turkey has been fighting a long and deadly battle against Kurdish militants and the government often accuses the HDP of collaborating with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, all of which are considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. HDP leaders deny the accusation and say they condemn violence.
Mr Ogan credited his campaign for elevating nationalist causes during the election and hard-right factions also performed well in parliamentary elections. In particular, Erdogan’s strongest allies in parliament, the Nationalist Movement Party, outperformed expectations.
“We have brought a very nationalistic wind into the field,” said Mr. Ogan.
But analysts said it was more likely that such sentiments were already rising among the electorate and that Mr. Ogan happened to be catching the wave.
Gulsin Harman contributed reporting from Istanbul.