Ladies and gentleman, it is that time of the year again where Erdogan wins, again. But have no fear! This time we, the left, have some hope to spare... Hope that our fucked economy and the inflation rate will put some semblance of sense to the voters.
What are we voting for?
Turkey holds local elections every five years. This time, throughout the 81 provinces of Turkey, a total of 30 metropolitan and 1,351 district municipal mayors, alongside 1,251 provincial and 20,500 municipal councilors will be elected. That means we get the choose which party will controlConstan- Istanbul, a city where an unnecessary amount of people currently reside in. Or Ankara, our capital where some good fucking democracy happens every day. Or İzmir, the crown jewel of the Empire.
Who are we voting for?
There are two major alliances. AKP and MHP (People's Alliance) want to cement their general election gains. While CHP and İYİ (Nation Alliance) looking to grab a few key metropolitan municipalities.
People's Alliance
AKP (Justice and Development Party): Islamist - conservative. Big boy Erdogan's party.
MHP ( Nationalist Movement Party): Ultranationalist - far-right. Currently breaking bread with the big boy.
Nation Alliance
CHP (Republican People's Party): Social democrat - Kemalist. Will call this one a hot win if they manage to grab Ankara.
İYİ (Good Party): Nationalist - secular - liberal conservative. Wants to divide the right-wing votes.
Other
HDP (Peoples' Democratic Party): Social democrat - Kurdish rights.
SP (Felicity Party): Islamist - conservative (not as crazy as AKP)
What is the current situation?
The last local election was in 2014. Let's look at the results in the biggest cities:
Well then who is going to win this bullshit?
It's a bit complicated. There are no real winners in local elections. Turkish people used to punish ruling governments in local elections if the economy wasn't in a right place and let me fucking tell you that the economy is in the worst place it could be right now.
Opinion polls suggest CHP will rip out Ankara from the hands of AKP, thanks to Mansur Yavaş, a charismatic Ankara-born politician that lost the last election by a small margin. İzmir will continue to fly its CHP flag. And AKP will need to bring its A game if they want to hold Istanbul on their hands. Even losing Ankara be disgraceful for AKP and Erdogan, I can't even begin to think how big of a nut I would bust if they were to lose Istanbul. Although, this seems highly unlikely.
P.S.: Just to clear any potential misunderstandings. I'll be voting for the CHP's candidates
What are we voting for?
Turkey holds local elections every five years. This time, throughout the 81 provinces of Turkey, a total of 30 metropolitan and 1,351 district municipal mayors, alongside 1,251 provincial and 20,500 municipal councilors will be elected. That means we get the choose which party will control
Who are we voting for?
There are two major alliances. AKP and MHP (People's Alliance) want to cement their general election gains. While CHP and İYİ (Nation Alliance) looking to grab a few key metropolitan municipalities.
People's Alliance
AKP (Justice and Development Party): Islamist - conservative. Big boy Erdogan's party.
MHP ( Nationalist Movement Party): Ultranationalist - far-right. Currently breaking bread with the big boy.
Nation Alliance
CHP (Republican People's Party): Social democrat - Kemalist. Will call this one a hot win if they manage to grab Ankara.
İYİ (Good Party): Nationalist - secular - liberal conservative. Wants to divide the right-wing votes.
Other
HDP (Peoples' Democratic Party): Social democrat - Kurdish rights.
SP (Felicity Party): Islamist - conservative (not as crazy as AKP)
What is the current situation?
The last local election was in 2014. Let's look at the results in the biggest cities:
- İstanbul - 15M - AKP
- Ankara - 5.5M - AKP
- İzmir - 4.3M - CHP
- Bursa - 2.9M - AKP
- Antalya - 2.4M - AKP
- Adana - 2.2M - MHP
- Konya - 2.2M - AKP
- Şanlıurfa - 2M - AKP
- Gaziantep - 2M - AKP
- Kocaeli - 1.9M - AKP
Well then who is going to win this bullshit?
It's a bit complicated. There are no real winners in local elections. Turkish people used to punish ruling governments in local elections if the economy wasn't in a right place and let me fucking tell you that the economy is in the worst place it could be right now.
Opinion polls suggest CHP will rip out Ankara from the hands of AKP, thanks to Mansur Yavaş, a charismatic Ankara-born politician that lost the last election by a small margin. İzmir will continue to fly its CHP flag. And AKP will need to bring its A game if they want to hold Istanbul on their hands. Even losing Ankara be disgraceful for AKP and Erdogan, I can't even begin to think how big of a nut I would bust if they were to lose Istanbul. Although, this seems highly unlikely.
P.S.: Just to clear any potential misunderstandings. I'll be voting for the CHP's candidates