Türkiye’s president and opposition have high stakes in local elections

Millions of Turkish citizens will go to the polls on Sunday to elect mayors and local administrators in their respective cities and regions.

The election comes less than a year after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was reelected to a five-year term last May.

Erdogan said in his victory speech: “Now that we are in 2024, are you ready to win Uskudar and Uskudar?” [a district in Istanbul where Erdogan’s personal residence is] Istanbul in 2024 local elections? “

Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) aims to retake key cities, including Turkey’s largest Istanbul and its capital Ankara, which it lost to the main opposition Republican People’s Party in 2019 by allying with the nationalist IYI (CHP). party.

istanbul race

Winning Istanbul and Ankara, two cities that account for a quarter of Turkey’s population, has given the Republican People’s Party a key position of power over the past five years.

Some analysts believe that the Istanbul race will become one of the major races.

“This election is mainly about Istanbul. In the presidential election, [opposition alliance candidate] Kemal Kilidaroglu received more votes than Erdogan in both rounds of elections in Istanbul,” political scientist Ismet Akaka told VOA.

Istanbul, with a population of 15 million, has important symbolic significance for political parties. There is an old saying in Turkish politics – “Whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey.” used by Erdogan some time. Earlier in his career, Erdogan served as the city’s mayor from 1994 to 1998.

Current Istanbul mayor and Republican People’s Party candidate Ekrem Imamoglu is considered one of the possible vice-presidents if the opposition coalition wins the May 2023 parliamentary and presidential elections.

However, after Erdogan’s victory in May 2023, the opposition alliance led by the CHP and IYI collapsed. Both parties elect their candidates in local elections.

In addition, new parties that have emerged over the past five years, including the center-right DEVA, the far-right Victory Party and the Islamic New Welfare Party, will run in Istanbul with their own candidates.

In the 2019 elections, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP, now using the new name DEM Party) did not announce a candidate, but supported Imamoglu of the opposition alliance. This year, however, the Democratic Party is campaigning for prominent Kurdish politician Meral Danis Bestas, who is the candidate in Istanbul.

Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party appointed former Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum, 47, who was at the helm of the government’s response to the February 2023 earthquake in southeastern Turkey that killed more than 50,000 people one of the main characters.

Imamoglu, 52, of the main opposition CHP, is seeking re-election. He is already one of the most prominent figures in Turkey’s opposition and is expected to run for president in 2028 if he wins.

Imamoglu faces a tough race against Kurum due to a lack of a broader coalition and the Kurdish vote, as Erdogan and his cabinet officials have been quite active in his campaign.

Erdogan’s “last election”

On March 8, at a meeting of the Turkish Youth Foundation, 70-year-old Erdogan asked for support for local elections, saying: “This is the last election for me; according to the mandate given by the law, this is My last election.”

“The eyes of the entire Islamic world are focused on Turkey. What will happen to Turkey? What will the AKP achieve in this election?” the president continued.

Erdogan came to power in 2002 and served as prime minister until 2014, becoming the first president to be elected by the public. He was re-elected in June 2018 and May 2023.

Turkey’s constitution was last revised in 2017, stipulating that the president can only serve two five-year terms. However, according to Article 116, if Parliament decides to re-elect the President during his second term, President may run again.

Erdogan hinted in November 2023 that his party aimed formulate a new constitution. Political scientist Akkar believes Erdogan’s statement is aimed at consolidating voters for his party.

“Erdogan does not want to lose to Imamoglu for the second time in this election. Recent elections have shown that the lower class and young people who are dissatisfied with the AKP are looking for other options,” Akkar told the U.S. Zhiyin said. Many of these voters have switched from the Justice and Development Party to the Islamist New Welfare Party.

“The president is trying to overcome this problem through his emphasis on the Islamic cause and his emotionally charged speeches.”

Gunur Tol, director of the Turkey program at the Middle East Institute, said Erdogan was involved “as if he were the man at the ballot box.”

“That’s why he interfered so frequently in the electoral process and attacked the current Republican People’s Party mayor Ekrem Imamoglu almost daily. It sounds like this,” Tol said in a statement on Thursday. Regarding the referendum on Erdogan, I personally think this is a bad strategy. ” Internet Conference.

Kurdish vote

Several prominent Kurdish politicians, including Ahmed Turk, Leila Zana and jailed former HDP leader Selahaddin Demirtas, have recently listed Erdogan as a solution One of the key players in the conflict with the Kurds.

“We have closed the door to terrorists and those who play political games under the guidance of terrorist organizations,” Erdogan said while campaigning in Diyarbakır on Wednesday.

Some analysts believe Erdogan has ended the possibility of a peace process.

“Given Erdogan’s speech, I don’t think there will be new compromises, negotiations or negotiations between the Democratic Party and Erdogan,” Reha Ruhavioglu, director of the Diyarbakır Kurdish Research Center, told VOA. meet.”

The Turkish government says the Democratic Party has links to the PKK, which the United States, the European Union and Ankara have designated as a terrorist organization. The party denies the accusation.

In 2019, the then-HDP won 65 municipalities, but the mayors of at least 48 municipalities were later fired over terror charges and placed under the control of government-appointed trustees.

This story originated from VOA Turkish. VOA Turkish correspondents Hilmi Hacaloglu and Mahmut Bozarslan reported from Istanbul and Diyarbakır.