site.btaWind of Change Marks Turkiye's Local Elections: Opposition Prevails

Hundreds of thousands of Istanbul residents celebrated until dawn the victory of the main opposition Kemalist Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the March 31 local elections in Turkiye. The streets around the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality building in the Sarachane district were filled with people of all ages. With red flags and posters  of [founder of Republic of Turkiye Kemal] Ataturk, the people, among whom the young were predominant, were hugging, singing and dancing with car horns honking all around.

Analysts noted that Turkiye has woken up with a new political map in which CHP’s red colour prevails instead of the orange of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which has dominated for 22 years.

CHP’s Ekrem Imamoglu was re-elected as mayor of the 16-million megalopolis of Istanbul with a record result.

According to unofficial results, with around 95% of the ballots counted, he leads by a million votes (he had won the previous election in 2019 by 800,000 votes) over his AK Party opponent Murat Kurum.

In his first speech after it became clear that he was leading convincingly over Kurum, Imamoglu rolled up his sleeves - a characteristic gesture familiar from the previous elections when Erdogan had annulled the vote. He pointed out that a new period in the life of Istanbul citizens was about to begin.

"This wonderful city of 16 million, Istanbul, has won, its big family has won. This megalopolis is unique because it reconciles people from different ethnic backgrounds with different beliefs. And they have the right to be its stewards, not to wait for someone's mercy," the Mayor said.

Imamoglu won in a tense atmosphere, which was filled with kompromats, threats and attacks from both the ruling party and the former allies of the National Alliance. Erdogan personally agitated against Imamoglu and sent government ministers to agitate in support of opponent Murat Kurum. The struggle between the factions in the CHP was also aimed at undermining his image. But Imamoglu managed to win the toughest victory as the Mayor of the megalopolis, of which Erdogan himself likes to say "He who rules Istanbul rules Turkiye".

In Istanbul, the CHP won 25 of the 39 municipalities, including many considered strongholds of the AK Party.

Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas won with almost double the lead over his opponent Turgut Altinok, who also had Erdogan's strong support. CHP increased the number of municipalities won in Ankara from 3 to 16.

CHP added Bursa to its victories in Turkiye's three metropolises of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

The wind of change has also blown in the city of Bursa, the fourth largest industrial centre of the country, which is populated by descendants of migrants from Bulgaria and the Balkans. As province mayor was elected Mustafa Bozbay - an unexpected loss for the AK Party, as Bursa had been a stronghold of the ruling party for several consecutive terms.

The AK Party lost control over 4 metropolitan municipalities and 12 provinces it had won in 2019, as well as district municipalities such as Adiyaman, Kilis, Sanliurfa and Yozgat, populated by conservative populations, which it had dominated for many years.

Head of State Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who usually delivers a victory speech from the balcony in both Istanbul and Ankara after elections, visited the AKP headquarters in Ankara, where supporters and sympathizers were waiting for him.

"March 31 is not an end for us, but a turning point," he said, stressing that the party could not achieve the results it wanted at the local elections. "We will analyze the results in our party bodies and carry out the necessary self-criticism," Erdogan was quoted as saying by TRT Haber.

According to analysts, a significant number of AK Party voters, especially in the eastern provinces, did not go to vote and exercised the so-called penalty vote. The party is said to have lost 5 million votes in this election.

The Islamist and conservative New Welfare Party of Fatih Erbakan claimed a surprising result, coming third with 6.1% of the votes.

Analysts also noted a drop in the vote of the Nationalist Movement Party of Devlet Bahceli, an ally of Erdogan.

The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party is leading in the elections in seven districts in eastern and southeastern Turkey, but the race there continues.

The results of the local elections are yet to be thoroughly analyzed.

It is fair to say that the economic difficulties, the rising cost of living (the hunger line is around TRY 19,000, while the minimum wage is TRY 17,000), the low pensions, the unaffordable cost of living, especially for pensioners, who number 15.8 million, the price of medicines, the problems of the health system, unemployment among young people, the devaluation of the Turkish lire "have led millions of voters to say stop to the AK Party, which has ruled for 22 years," analysts stated.