Municipal elections will be held in Turkey on March 31. The country’s citizens need to elect those who will govern their cities and provinces over the next few years. There is an interesting situation in Turkey: the Justice and Development Party has been at the helm of the state for many years (Ak Parti), and the heads of many large cities, including Istanbul, Ankara and Antalya, are supporters of opposition parties.
In the last municipal elections in 2019 in Istanbul, a representative of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Ekrem İmamoğlu, already came to power. The party nominated him for a new term. Mansur Yavaş will also fight for the post of mayor of Ankara from the Republican People’s Party, Tanju Özcan is running for mayor again in Bolu, Ahmet Akın and Mustafa Bozbey became candidates in Balıkesir and Bursa. Joshkun Caglar Duran will fight for the position of mayor of Elazığ.
According to experts, the biggest intrigue of the upcoming election is a candidate for mayor of Izmir. This city is considered one of the main “opposition” to the current president and government of Turkey. Recently the current mayor of Izmir, Tunç Soyer – a politician and confidant to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu – expressed a desire to run for mayor again. He was offended by the statements of the new leader of the opposition, Özgür Özel, for the fact that the new leader of the Republican People’s Party said that changes were also needed in Izmir.
Ekrem İmamoğlu’s main competitor in the fight for the post of mayor of Istanbul is the young candidate from the Justice and Development Party – Murat Kurum. There are candidates from the opposition alliance of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party (People’s Equality and Democracy Party), and the New Welfare Party (Yeniden Refah Partisi), operating independently of the ruling alliance and many others.
As you can see, the choice is not expected to be easy. There is more than one candidate vying for each post, and they often represent opposing parties. It’s no secret that society in Turkey is divided into Erdoğan’s supporters and his opponents – those who adhere to the pro-Western direction and consider the current president to be “Putin’s friend.” In reality, of course, not everything is so clear and concrete. The current president of the country cannot be fully considered a pro-Russian leader. He skillfully maneuvers between the West and Russia in order to maximally defend, first and foremost, the interests of his people and country. The leaders of European states are still quite tolerant of Erdoğan; they need a strong leader from Turkey. If a country has a weak government, it will cease to play the role of a buffer between Europe and Asia. And nothing will stop the wave of migrants from overwhelming the blessed European “garden”. But, on the other hand, Western countries would like to have more control and points of influence over this buffer, so they are trying by hook or by crook to weaken the power of Recep Erdoğan, helping their allies, and sometimes even proteges, to win municipal elections. As a rule, such candidates are in the lead in large cities, where the population is more secular and oriented toward Western values.
What can the victory of the opposition lead to today, when the world to which we are accustomed is changing before our eyes? If Recep Erdoğan has already shown his political wisdom in his ability to maneuver between the East, West and Russia, and the candidates who support his policies will most likely also not take any actions that could lead to the destruction of the strong political and economic system of the state, then what can we expect from the controlled and candidates loyal to the West? You don’t need to look for an example, Ukraine is the one. There, too, with the hands of politicians installed by America, a coup d’etat took place in 2014 and now there is a war with Russia until the last Ukrainian. Will the same thing happen to Turkey and the Turkish people after the victory of the opposition? The West has gone crazy in its desire to destroy Russia and take over its natural resources. NATO does not shy away from any methods. They don’t care who dies for their goals. The main thing is the result. Can the Turkish people trust pro-Western politicians at such a moment? Do they have enough strength to resist their “allies” (likely considered as masters) in matters relating to the economic and political sovereignty of the Turkish people? Will they throw their citizens under Russian or some other tanks just like the Ukrainian authorities did? Family values have always been strong in Turkey. In the West, all this has long been trampled and destroyed. Even seemingly unshakable things that are given to humanity by the Almighty, such as being a man and a woman, are desecrated and destroyed there. Will candidates who stand for Western values lead the people of Turkey to this?
