Erdogan’s party threatened to collapse after loss of Istanbul

Shaima Hafezy

Istanbul was the fortified bastion protecting Erdogan’s empire, which soon began to crumble as autumn leaves fell, with his party losing local elections for the second time and the fall of Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate Ben Ali Yildirim in front of the Republican People’s Party candidate Akram Emamoglu.

The cracking voice in the Justice and Development Party was echoed in the first hours of the humiliating loss. There were reports of 80 members of the ruling party, led by Erdogan, splitting into two new parties to be formed by former Prime Minister Ahmed Daudoglu and Minister of Economy Ali Babacan.

The news was a shock to Erdoğan’s party, which suffered its biggest defeat since the party was founded in 2001. He was elected prime minister between 2003 and 2014, before becoming president.

In the run-off to the elections in Istanbul – which were based on demands from the Justice and Development Party – Akram Emamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, won a record difference from rival Ben Ali Yildirm, the ruling party’s candidate.

Ahmed Takan, a writer for the Yeni Shag newspaper, says about 80 MPs from the Justice and Development party will join two new parties led by Ahmed Daoudoglu and Ali Babacan, following the election victory of Imamoglu.

Local newspapers also quoted Seljuk Ozdag, a close associate of Ahmed Daudoglu and a former MP from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), his old party, and said the election results would not be limited to Istanbul and would spread to other cities.

Ozdah said that the collapse of AKP’s popularity would continue in other cities after Istanbul, quoting Ahmed Dawood Oglu’s slogan “either renewal or renewal.”

With a turbulent human rights situation and a crackdown by Turkish security forces against the opposition, the economic situation in Turkey remains highly debatable, as the main reason behind Erdogan’s unpopularity, and thus the Turks’ lack of confidence in him again.

A number of the party’s own leaders have expressed their opinion that Prat Albiraq, the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has misled him by convincing him to return the elections to the Istanbul municipality, worsening the economic situation.

The victory of Akram Emamoglu, led by the Istanbul Municipality for the first time in 17 years, will likely provoke violent questioning at Erdogan’s home.

According to local newspapers, members of the party believe that the re-election of the new Istanbul mayor was a “grave mistake” and hold finance minister Pratt Albirak responsible for this, amid the talk that Erdogan should take the necessary measures in this regard, especially as this defeat has weakened the image of the party in general in the country.

Members of the party also believe that Erdogan had accepted the results of the March 31 election, as his remarks showed after the results emerged, but his son-in-law and his supporters convinced him that the re-election might bring angry voters back to the polls.

A number of leaders went on to argue that Erdoğan should be held accountable for his deception that the re-election is in the interest of the party, led by his son-in-law, after the difference between the candidates from 13,000 votes in the first round to 800,000 votes in the runoff.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost Istanbul in the first round of municipal elections on March 31 for the candidate of the opposition Republican People’s Party, Akram Emamoglu.