2024-03-31 09:37:44
Image source: Getty Images
3 hours ago
Voters vote Sunday, March 31, in local elections in Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party hopes to regain control of urban areas, including the capital Ankara and major city Istanbul.
The opposition won them five years ago, following Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party had run them for a quarter of a century.
The current mayor of Istanbul – opposition politician Ekrem Imamoglu – sees his re-election as the next stage in his campaign to replace Mr Erdogan as president in the 2028 elections.
But if Erdogan’s party performs well in urban areas, commentators say he will exploit this success to introduce a new conservative constitution. The vote is taking place once morest the backdrop of severe economic problems, including inflation of nearly seventy percent.
After losing Istanbul in 2019, the president struck back once morest the opposition in 2023 by securing re-election and a parliamentary majority with his party and nationalist allies.
Sunday’s results might strengthen Erdogan’s control over NATO member Turkey, or signal a change in the divided political landscape in the major emerging economy country. Observers believe that Imamoglu’s victory increases expectations that he will become a national leader in the future.
Polling stations opened their doors at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) in the east of the country, and at 8 a.m. in other regions, with more than 61 million people registered to vote.
Voting ends at 5 p.m., and preliminary results are expected to be announced by 10 p.m. (1900 GMT).
“close race”
In Istanbul, a city with a population of 16 million that leads the Turkish economy, opinion polls indicate a close race with Imamoglu facing a challenge from the Justice and Development Party candidate, Murat Kurum, a former minister.
The results are likely to be influenced in part by economic problems, caused by rampant inflation approaching 70 percent, and Kurdish and Islamist voters’ assessment of the government’s performance and policies and their hopes for political change.
Erdogan threw all his weight into the elections, touring the country with a population of regarding 85 million people, and holding election festivals at a pace that sometimes reached four festivals a day.
He personally fought the battle of his candidate for Istanbul, Murat Kurum, an unpopular former minister who often appears in his banners alongside the president.
Erdogan’s hopes have been boosted following the collapse of the opposition coalition that defeated him (Erdogan) last year, although Imamoglu is still attracting voters outside his main party, the opposition Republican People’s Party.
Voters from the main pro-Kurdish party were crucial to Imamoglu’s success in 2019, but this time their party, the Democratic Party, is running with its own candidate in Istanbul, and yet many Kurds are expected to put party loyalty aside and vote for Imamoglu once more.
Clashes
Meanwhile, one person was killed and at least 12 others were injured, in clashes that occurred on the sidelines of the local elections in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, according to what the Ministry of Health announced.
An official told Agence France-Presse: “Clashes broke out between two groups during the elections on Sunday, leaving one dead and 12 injured,” noting that these incidents occurred in a village regarding 30 kilometers from the provincial capital.
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