TURKS ARE VOTING FOR LOCAL ELECTIONS; TEST OF ERDOGAN’S POPULARITY

Sun 31 March 2024:

Doing his duty as a voting citizen in Türkiye’s local elections on Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cast his ballot in the metropolis of Istanbul.

After voting in the city’s Uskudar district, Erdogan stressed the importance of participation in the elections, urging all eligible citizens to come out and make their choice.

This election will mark the beginning of a new era in our country,” he told reporters after voting.

Polls have opened in Turkey for local elections in a crucial test for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he seeks to win back control of key urban areas he lost to the opposition five years ago.

Voting stations opened on Sunday at 7am local time (04:00 GMT) in eastern Turkey, with voting elsewhere starting at 8am and ending at 5pm. Initial results are expected by 10pm (19:00 GMT).

Some 61 million people, including more than a million first-time voters, are eligible to cast ballots for all metropolitan municipalities, town and district mayorships as well as neighbourhood administrations.

Some 594,000 security personnel will be on duty across the country to ensure the vote goes smoothly, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

The vote is a barometer of Erdogan’s popularity and will decide who gets to control the economic hub of Istanbul and the capital Ankara, both of which he lost in 2019.

The 70-year-old Turkish leader has set his sights on wresting back Istanbul, a city of 16 million people, where he was born and raised, and where he began his political career as mayor in 1994.

“Winning major cities is more of a deal for the opposition, but also it means access to foreign funds, having transnational links with both economic actors and political actors,” Evren Balta, professor of political science at Turkey’s Ozyegin University, told Al Jazeera.

“If you are governing a major global city, it means you have visibility in the international scene.”

A strong showing for Erdogan’s ruling Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party, or the AK Party, would likely harden his resolve to usher in a new constitution – one that would reflect his conservative values and allow him to rule beyond 2028, when his current term ends, analysts say.

One factor working against Erdogan is a rise in support for the Islamist New Welfare Party (YRP) due to its hardline stance against Israel over the war in Gaza and dissatisfaction with the AK Party’s handling of the economy.

In Ankara, incumbent Mayor Mansur Yavas – also seen as a potential future challenger to Erdogan – is expected to retain his post, according to opinion polls.

Polls have pointed to a close race between Istanbul’s incumbent mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, of the main opposition, pro-secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, and the AK Party’s candidate Murat Kurum, a former urbanisation and environment minister.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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