The economic powerhouse of Istanbul has taken center stage in Turkey’s municipal elections on Sunday. The city’s incumbent mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, from the opposition’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), is challenged by the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) candidate Murat Kurum, who was handpicked by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) fielded Meral Danis Bestas and Murat Cepni as co-candidates in the hope of offering voters a third way.
“I voted for CHP, for Imamoglu,” Ismet, a 32-year-old Kurdish man originally from Siirt who did not want to give his last name, told Rudaw English.
“That’s what needs to be done,” he said, explaining that he did not want the AKP back at the helm of the city.
Sezai Aydogdu, a Kurdish man originally from Bitlis, agreed. He said he has no love for Imamoglu but voted for him because “he fights against the ruling parties.”
“We do not want the ruling parties back in Istanbul. They cannot run the country. And I think that an authority that cannot run the country, cannot run Istanbul,” he said.
While Aydogdu backed the CHP’s candidate for mayor, he said did not vote for a CHP candidate for the municipal council.
Other voters backed the DEM Party, including Baran Dogan, a 29-year-old Kurdish man who said he voted for the pro-Kurdish party because he wanted “Kurds to vote for Kurds.”
“We voted for Imamoglu in the last election and he did nothing for Kurds,” Dogan said. “I do not want my vote to be used by these two parties [CHP and AKP]. I have more choices and I vote for a Kurd like me.”
DEM Party’s candidate Bestas told Rudaw English on Tuesday that her party “represents a third way” and wants to earn everyone’s votes, not only the Kurdish electorate.
Although the pro-Kurdish party tried to present the third option, most voters are focused on the Imamoglu-Kurum dichotomy.
Yakup Yazici, a 64-year-old Istanbulite, said he voted for AKP’s Kurum because he wants some change in the city leadership. “Ekrem Imamoglu was close to us as someone from Karadeniz [Black Sea region], but he did not do anything over the past four years,” he said.
Twenty-five-year-old Murat, who did not want to give his surname, was also unhappy with Imamoglu’s record as mayor.
“I voted for Murat Kurum. My only expectation is for Imamoglu to go,” Murat said, saying that the mayor did not “do anything for the city, and he himself does not remember it.”
Imamoglu has been criticized for making the same promises during the campaign as he did in the previous election, promises he later claimed he did not recall in an effort to protect himself from the backlash resulting from not having delivered.
But he still attracted support from voters opposed to Erdogan.
“I want peace. I want democracy for Istanbul,” said Aynur Oguz, who said she voted for the current mayor.
“I voted for Imamoglu only for Tayyip [Erdogan] to go. I do not love Imamoglu,” said another voter in his 40s who asked not to be named. “As long as Tayyip is here, we will not have democracy,” he added, just moments after casting his ballot.
Polling stations in 32 eastern provinces closed at 4 pm and an hour later in the rest of the country. Vote counting began as soon as stations closed, but the media is restricted from reporting on the results until 9 pm local time.
