As of: March 25, 2024, 4:28 p.m
By: Erkan Pehlivan
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Local elections will take place in Turkey on Sunday.
Then President Erdogan could win back the metropolis of Istanbul.
Istanbul - Local elections will take place in all 81 provinces of Turkey on Sunday (March 31).
Then President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to recapture the metropolises of Istanbul and Ankara for his ruling AKP party.
To achieve this, Erdogan and the head of the ruling AKP party are using all the means at their disposal.
Erdogan sends ministers to local elections
The ministers also take part in the election campaign events and campaign for the AKP candidates - especially in Istanbul.
Even the foreign minister and former intelligence chief Hakan Fidan is looking for votes, especially for the AKP candidate for Istanbul, Murat Kurum.
“If we want to show that we have learned a lesson from the natural disasters, Murat Kurum must become mayor,” Fidan said at an event in Istanbul over the weekend.
As urban planning minister, Kurum prepared, started and completed projects.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya was also in Istanbul last week looking for votes and campaigning for Murat Kurum.
At the same time, the Turkish Interior Minister is also responsible for security during local elections.
On March 31, 594,000 police, gendarmerie and coast guard officers will secure the elections, Yerlikaya said at a press conference.
Governors and district administrators are campaigning for Erdogan's party
How Erdogan misuses state resources for local elections can be seen in the Kurdish cities and communities, Leyla Imret tells
Fr.de
from
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
In 2019, the HDP won the local elections in 67 cities and municipalities.
However, Erdogan dismissed the mayors in 59 of these cities and municipalities and appointed a receiver (“Kayyum”).
“These receivers are also governors and district administrators.
They campaign for the AKP and use vehicles and means of transport that belong to the municipalities and cities,” says Imret.
Together with the police, these administrators would hold demonstrations of force in the Kurdish communities.
The AKP election campaigns here are run together with the district administrators, governors, police chiefs and gendarmerie commanders, although these officials are not party members, said Imret.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to recapture Istanbul in the local elections.
© IMAGO/Shady Alassar
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Erdogan lets S-Bahn trains in Istanbul run for free
A major election campaign event took place on Sunday at Istanbul's old airport.
State resources were apparently misused for this purpose too.
According to a report in the Turkish newspaper Sözcü, the AKP leadership sent a letter to the state railway TCDD on March 15, asking it not to charge for the "Marmaray" on the day of the rally between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. route”.
This will be paid for by the AKP.
The Marmaray is a suburban train that connects the European and Asian parts of Istanbul.
An unnamed TCDD employee criticizes his employer for bowing to the AKP's instructions.
“Anyone can say they’re going to the event and then don’t pay for the train.
What happens if the AKP says these people don’t belong to us?”
Local elections in Turkey as a demonstration of power
Erdogan desperately wants to retake Istanbul, where Ekrem Imamoglu from the opposition CHP party rules.
And there are good reasons for that.
“The local elections in Turkey are very important for Erdogan.
Erdogan must emerge victorious.
The AKP government is a coalition of MPs from the far-right MHP, the Islamist Hüda Par and the Yenid Refah Partisi.
The MHP openly supports the Turkish president.
An election result that gives the impression that 'Erdogan can be defeated' could lead to a rift in Erdogan's coalition.
If he fails to win back metropolises like Istanbul and Ankara and loses votes in the local councils, this could lead to a break in Erdogan's coalition of political parties and the state bureaucracy," says Turkey expert Dr.
Süleyman Özeren from the American University in Washington in conversation with our editorial team.
Erdogan could become the winner in local elections
And Erdogan's plan could come to fruition next Sunday.
The reason for this is a lack of the rule of law and an authoritarian regime that holds power in its hands.
“There is no real opposition either.
We saw this in the parliamentary and presidential elections.
The opposition leaders Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (CHP) and Meral Akşener (IYI Parti) played into Erdoğan's hands.
Instead of a strong opposition, there was a splinter group with mixed messages,” said Özeren.
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