On Saturday, the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, made a thunderous return to the campaign trail in western Turkey.
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There was a sea of flags and a sizable crowd waiting for him when he arrived in the port city of Izmir under the scorching sun. In a bastion of the opposition, there was a sizable turnout.
There was no indication of the illness that prompted him to miss three days of important activities this week, only a fortnight before crucial elections. After 20 years in power, he will face his strongest challenge yet in the elections for the presidency and the parliament.
The president talked for about 40 minutes, ridiculing the opposition and invoking the threat of "terrorism" while asserting that only he could bring about economic progress in Turkey. It was a confrontational performance that will have comforted his followers and possibly alarmed his critics.
It was also classic Erdogan.
On Sunday, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, his primary opponent for the presidency and a secular candidate supported by a coalition of six parties, will conduct a gathering in the same location. The race may come down to a picture finish, but surveys show that Mr. Kilicdaroglu, a soft-spoken former civil servant, has a modest advantage.
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The 69-year-old Turkish president shocked TV watchers on Tuesday night when he fell ill during a live broadcast, forcing it to be cut short. He attributed it to a stomach virus.
Gurbet Dostum, a mother of two who is 42 years old, revealed that after learning of the bad news regarding her son's health, she prayed to God for his illness. "I'm willing to suffer for him. He provides for all of us.
But because of the widespread inflation, which is officially around 50%, many people here have less and less. The President's unconventional economic measures have been criticized by experts, but not Gurbet. People who complain, according to her, are "greedy and ungrateful and just want more and more,"
She was sporting a headscarf, much like many other women at the segregated demonstration. Conservative religious people are the president's pillar of support, but there were many secular supporters present.
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"He changed the country," remarked Guldana, a 57-year-old with a diamond in her tooth. "Before him, Turkey was a village."
Ayse, a young unemployed woman, declared she would support Erdogan out of love for her nation. She proclaimed, "He will make us rise, and get stronger."
Those who support the president support his continuing his lengthy reign and his plans for Turkey. Many Turks desire the exact opposite. Like the nation, the electorate is divided.
While the president was still speaking, some of the people who had waited for him for hours drifted away.
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