The second round of the presidential elections was held in France last Sunday. The first-round elections held on April 10 included current President Emmanuel Macron (27.85%), Marine Le Pen (23.15%), Jean-Luc Mélenchon (21.95%), Éric Zemmour (7.07%) and Among the candidates, including Valérie Pécresse (4.76%), Macron and Le Pen were the two candidates with the highest number of votes, thus qualifying for the second round.
In this round, in which two candidates competed, eyes were turned to Marine Le Pen, the candidate of the Nationalist Front, or the recently changed name of the Nationalist Recovery Movement. Aiming to get votes from all segments of society, Macron's Republican Progress Movement, as expected, put a discourse against the anti-immigrant campaigns of Le Pen, defined as the "far right", at the center of its campaign.
It is a movement that shouts at every opportunity that it is against immigrants, is xenophobic and turns a blind eye to hate attacks against Muslims as Islamophobes, and its leader expressed regret that despite all this, they are described as "extreme right".
As in other examples, political movements with far-right roots describe themselves simply as patriotic. But if this patriotism is not tolerant of those who are outside the majority of the society, and especially if it is to oppose or even to ban the most basic human rights of these citizens, such as the headscarf, this will of course bring about the questioning of their understanding of patriotism.
Marine Le Pen has often claimed that the headscarf is not a religious freedom, on the contrary, it is a uniform that enslaves Muslim women. Supposedly he promises to save them from this oppression and persecution. But with these actions and thoughts, she makes the same mistake that Western, white and elitist women like herself always make. For some reason, the western white woman sees the right to save non-white, black or brown women. But since he never deigns to listen to these women who are not like him, he assumes that they are waiting for a savior. Despite being told many times that the Muslim woman does not need a so-called rescue by Western women, she still insists. The issue of the headscarf, which is one of the most common practices of Islamophobia, and the attempt to ban it is an attempt to restrict the freedoms and preferences of individuals. Intolerance towards the dress of individuals shows the highest level of hatred or at least disrespect towards those who are not like them, especially in societies that define themselves as democratic.
Similarly, it should be a matter of great concern for a politician like Le Pen, who likens the "Nazi invasion" to the "Nazi invasion" of Muslims not being able to fit in their mosques on Fridays and praying in the streets on Fridays, should be a matter of great concern, but it should be understood that he finds support in other countries as well. it is quite difficult.
The fact that she poses cutely with cats on her Instagram account may have been helpful in terms of political communication strategy, but it is not known how effective the French spoke up about immigrants who "stealed" their jobs right after. However, the fact that the turnout remained at the level of 63 percent shows that people are now giving up their hopes on the system and do not believe that there will be a good change on the horizon. This low turnout rate reveals that with 58 percent of the votes, Macron was not really preferred, but mostly got the votes to stop the far-right candidate Le Pen. Maybe these results can make us more careful in the political games to be developed on the immigrant population living in the country and the Muslims.
The inflation shock that came after the Kovid-19 epidemic and Russia's occupation of Ukraine made the French people economically alarmed and led them to fall from their social class standards and become impoverished. Foreigners, who are the first group to be seen as a cause in the face of almost all kinds of economic difficulties, were also targets in this election. Although this century's xenophobic tone has lightened a little compared to the previous elections, this time Le Pen continued his old rhetoric by using the economy as an excuse. But while the fact that his campaign was based on opposition to the European Union, Germany and NATO, worried the West, some journalists close to the government in Turkey, with pro-Russian support, were able to write articles supporting Le Pen against Macron. However, Turkey's relations with France have not been shaped by individuals, and have often been carried out in a painful and contentious atmosphere. It is clear that being a party in the elections is not in Turkey's interests. Instead of preferring one over the other, it would be a more correct approach to express discourses that are grounded and prioritize corporate mind. Turkey cannot protect its own interests by being a party not only with France but also with other countries in the internal political discussions of those countries.
Thus, it may become possible for us to show that a fairer world, in which we determine our own policies for the sake of our country, can exist in the axis shift debates that are frequently mentioned.