To try to win in the municipal elections, Recep Tayyip Erdogan notably used a form of blackmail during the campaign. As Turks go to the polls this Sunday, he implied that cities led by one of his candidates will have more resources.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer
Zafer, 49, is a supporter of President Erdogan. In the Istanbul municipal elections scheduled for this Sunday, he will vote for Murat Kurum, the government candidate, and not for the outgoing mayor, the opponent Ekrem Imamoglu. He claims that all Istanbul residents have an interest in doing the same: “ Murat Kurum will inevitably be a better mayor because he will work hand in hand with the head of state. This is not the case with the current mayor who is in conflict with our president all the time. It’s the same for other opposition town halls “.
Read alsoMunicipal elections in Turkey: “In Diyarbakir, there is an overwhelming domination of the pro-Kurdish party”
Several times during the campaign, Recep Tayyip Erdogan resorted to this form of blackmail: implying that opposition mayors would benefit from less resources and therefore, that it was necessary to vote for their candidates. In Istanbul, for example, he declared that the opposition did not have the “ means » to develop the city because “ we are the ones who run the country “.
In Ordu, in the north of the country, he told voters: “ With us, cities have natural gas. Without us there is none “. Same story in Hatay, a city devastated by last year’s earthquake, where the president suggested that residents had received less aid because the mayor is an opponent.
For political journalist Kemal Can, this speech reflects Tayyip Erdogan’s concerns, particularly for Istanbul, the capital city that the president hopes to take back from the opposition. “ Both the candidate he chose and the new promises of power do not seem to arouse much enthusiasm among voters who vote AKP for pragmatic and not ideological reasons. This is why he clearly tells them: if you turn to the opposition, you will not receive services! », he analyzes.
Read alsoTürkiye: Erdogan to reconquer Istanbul
The president also claims that only an AKP mayor can prepare Istanbul for the earthquake that threatens to destroy the city.