The local elections in Turkey next Sunday should not come as a surprise. According to the first information, the opposition is leading in the capital Ankara and the metropolis Istanbul. About 61 million people were called to vote.
According to preliminary results, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu (53) from the center-left CHP party received 49.6 percent of the votes. He is considered a possible challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next presidential elections. The mayoral candidate of Erdogan’s Islamic conservative AKP party, Murat Kurum (47), currently has 41.6 percent of the votes. However, only 20 percent of the ballot boxes have been counted.
In Ankara, Mayor Masur Yavas currently has 56.3 percent of the vote. He has already declared himself the election winner.
Two people killed in clashes
About ten months after Erdogan’s re-election, there was eager anticipation as to whether his AKP party would succeed in recapturing Istanbul and Ankara. A total of 81 provinces could vote until noon.
Deadly incidents marred local elections in the southeast of the country. Two people were killed in violent clashes. At least fifteen other people were injured, including in the Kurdish metropolis of Diyarbakir. Those involved allegedly attacked each other with firearms, stones and sticks.
Young people want to leave the country
The national elections took place under difficult circumstances. Many people are struggling with rising food prices and sky-high rents due to high inflation. According to a survey, many young people would like to leave the country. The opposition, which ran as an alliance during the 2023 parliamentary and presidential elections, is seen as divided and is no longer acting as a united front.
Moreover, the election campaign is considered unfair (see video above). For example, in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sanliurfa, government officials reportedly attempted to vote in more than one ballot box. This would have been prevented and documented.
Source: Krone

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