{"id":6306,"date":"2024-03-31T19:00:39","date_gmt":"2024-03-31T16:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=6306"},"modified":"2024-03-31T19:00:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-31T16:00:39","slug":"polls-close-in-turkish-local-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=6306","title":{"rendered":"Polls close in Turkish local elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/polls-close-in-turkish-local-elections.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Polls closed at 5pm on Sunday in Turkey\u2019s local elections<\/strong>, with the counting of votes now underway.<br \/>\nVoters across Turkey\u2019s 81 provinces elected their local representatives to serve for the next five years, with both domestic and international focus primarily centred on the country\u2019s largest city, Istanbul.<br \/>\nThe transcontinental city is home to more than 16 million people and was the scene of a historic electoral upset last time out when Ekrem Imamoglu of opposition party the CHP beat governing Ak Parti candidate and former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.<br \/>\nPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long recognised the importance of Istanbul\u2019s political leanings in Turkey\u2019s electoral future, <strong>once saying that whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey<\/strong>.<br \/>\nHe himself rose to prominence in the 1990s after becoming the city\u2019s mayor and has been fighting tooth and nail in this year\u2019s campaign to win the city back for his party and its candidate, former Environment Minister Murat Kurum.<br \/>\nAfter he voted, he said \u201cthis election will lead to the beginning of a new era.\u201d<br \/>\nHe referenced last May\u2019s presidential election, in which he beat opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu despite spending much of the campaign behind in the polls and said \u201cI hope this election will yield a good result for our country and our nation.\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>Murat Kurum is also the preferred candidate of Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar<\/strong>, who shared an iftar meal, the breaking of the Ramadan fast, with him ten days ago. Tatar said Kurum had \u201cgreatly helped in the opening of Varosha\u201d back in 2020.<br \/>\nImamoglu may have his work cut out to retain the mayoralty this evening, with the opposition unity which helped him on his way five years ago now nowhere to be seen.<br \/>\nThe Kurdish left-wing Dem Party and Meral Aksener\u2019s Iyi Party are both fielding candidates this year, and in total, 22 parties have put forward candidates for the city\u2019s mayoralty.<br \/>\nWhen he cast his vote on Sunday afternoon, Imamoglu said, \u201ctoday is an emotional day for me, because <strong>it is the moment of giving blessings for five years of effort.<\/strong><br \/>\n\u201cI would like to express that I do my best, together with all my colleagues, to work for this city at the highest level, in line with the principle of equality, without separating any district from another or engaging in partisanship.\u201d<br \/>\nHe added, \u201cif I broke someone\u2019s heart, I would of course ask for forgiveness in this city. I hope we are able to count our blessings from our 16 million people with the results of the ballot box. If we are given the authority, we will continue to provide the best life possible to our city for the next five years.\u201d<br \/>\nOutside of Istanbul, Erdogan\u2019s Ak Parti also has its sights set on Turkey\u2019s other two largest cities, its capital Ankara and Izmir.<br \/>\nDespite this, <strong>neither look particularly likely to turn to his party<\/strong>, with incumbent CHP mayor Mansur Yavas tipped by experts to retain the mayoralty, and the Ak Parti requiring a 20-point swing in Izmir to win.<br \/>\nThere were reports of violence in some areas of the country, with as many as three people reported kills after shootings related to mukhtar elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Polls closed at 5pm on Sunday in Turkey\u2019s local elections. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once said that whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey. Murat Kurum is the preferred candidate of Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar. Imamoglu is hoping to retain the mayoralty in Istanbul. Erdogan&#8217;s Ak Parti is unlikely to win in Ankara and Izmir. Violence was reported in some areas during the elections, with three people killed in shootings related to mukhtar elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[209,1221,4422,3,1600,153,203,2837,420,264,4081,250,3330,4407,187,1411,148,845,4086,2825,3331,1429,1356,1792,4404,3480,1844,177,268,1161,1503,134,1774,1379],"class_list":["post-6306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-box","tag-campaign","tag-candidates","tag-cyprus","tag-election","tag-elections","tag-environment","tag-equality","tag-erdogan","tag-ersin-tatar","tag-future","tag-google","tag-google-news","tag-hope","tag-international","tag-istanbul","tag-local","tag-local-elections","tag-mayor","tag-new-era","tag-news","tag-opposition-party","tag-presidential-election","tag-prime-minister","tag-ramadan","tag-spending","tag-tatar","tag-turkey","tag-turkish-cypriot","tag-turkish-cypriot-leader","tag-upset","tag-violence","tag-vote","tag-voters"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- 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