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Voting under way in Turkey local elections

Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, mayoral candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), cheer during a rally ahead of the local elections in Istanbul, Turkey March 30, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)

By AFP | 31 Mar 2024

All eyes will be on Istanbul, the national "jewel" that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes to pry away from the opposition.

Turks were voting on Sunday in municipal elections, with all eyes on Istanbul, the national "jewel" that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes to pry away from the opposition.

Erdogan may not be a candidate in the municipal vote, but he has dominated the campaign.

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His road to power in Turkey began in Istanbul when he was elected mayor of the mythic city straddling Europe and Asia in 1994.

His allies held the city until five years ago when Ekrem Imamoglu of the secular Republican People's Party (CHP) wrested control.

As soon as Erdogan clinched re-election as president last May—he has held the position since 2014—he launched the battle to reclaim the city of 16 million people.

"Istanbul is the jewel, the treasure and the apple of our country's eye," the 70-year-old leader said at a recent rally in the city.

"Whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkey," Erman Bakirci, a pollster from Konda Research and Consultancy, recalled Erdogan once saying.

'Emotional day'

After casting his vote with his wife and two sons in Istanbul around midday Sunday, Imamoglu emerged to applaud, chanting "Everything will be fine," his 2019 election slogan.

"I hope that... the will of the ballot box will be expressed without harm to anyone, whatever the result is, whoever our citizens voted for," Imamoglu said in the garden of a school polling station.

"Today is an emotional day for me," he said, adding that he was trying to ensure "equality without prioritising partisanship.".

"We are doing our best to ensure that young people, women and mothers have the best possible life," he said.

Armed clashes were reported from a village in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast, leaving one dead and 12 wounded, a local official told AFP.

More than a mayor's race

The Turkish president has named former environment minister Murat Kurum as his candidate for Istanbul mayor.

The 2019 vote was controversially annulled, but Imamoglu won the re-run vote by an even greater margin, which turned him into an instant hero for Turkey's opposition and a formidable foe for Erdogan.

If Imamoglu manages to retain the Istanbul mayor's seat, he'll likely be the main challenger to the ruling party in the next presidential elections, set for 2028.

Imamoglu focused his campaign on local issues and defended his achievements in office.

"Every vote you give to the CHP will mean more metros, creches, green spaces, social benefits and investment," he promised ahead of the vote.

Fractured opposition

Some 61 million voters are picking mayors across Turkey's 81 provinces, as well as provincial council members and other local officials.

This time around, the main opposition party, the social democratic CHP, has failed to rally support behind a single candidate.

Polls opened at 0400 GMT in the east of the country and were due to close at 1400 GMT in the west, including Istanbul.

The first estimates are expected to be released late on Sunday.