Imamoglu defeats Yildirim in televised debate, showing ruling party’s weakness

Ahmed Sami Abdel Fattah

Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamoglu fought a strong debate with ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate Binali Yildirim. This was the first debate of its kind in nearly 20 years.

Yildirim began his criticism of Imamoglu by accusing him of being a member of the Hezmet movement to copy the database of citizens in Istanbul. However, Imamoglu replied that he has no links with the nationalist movement in any way.

Fraud

Yildirim tried to accuse the opposition of being behind the fraud, but Imamoglu was quick to respond, confirming that the fraud was unacceptable and that the final decision was in the hands of the people of Istanbul.

On the other hand, Imamoglu raised an important question: “Why did Anatolia cut off the flow of preliminary results on the night of the elections?” Anadolu News responded to this, asserting that a media outlet reported to the Supreme Electoral Council only.

Anadolu tried to respond to the accusations against it with regard to the AKP’s control.

Refugee file

Regarding the refugee file, Imamoglu said that it has not been managed well, promising a radical solution to the refugee problem.

In the same context, he pledged to form a board for Syrian affairs because the Turkish citizen feels that there is a threat to his livelihood.

“We have received the refugees from our principles and our faith,” Yildirim said, adding, “The Syrians are under the temporary protection clause in Istanbul. A refugee who violates public law will be sent back to a town in Turkey.”

Imamoglu condemned the large waste of government funds for the Istanbul municipality, which had been controlled by the AKP for nearly 25 years, but Yildirim said these were baseless allegations, especially as his party has been able to carry out giant projects in infrastructure.

Traditional debate

Analysts believe the debate was too traditional, where the candidates only refuted their opponent’s allegations and charged each other.

Nevertheless, there was a state of cordiality between the two parties, starting with shaking hands with one another.

As for body language and tone, Imamoglu was superior to Yildirim.

At the end of the debate, Yildirim said that honesty and experience will determine who succeeds in this election, pointing out that he has more experience than Imamoglu, whom he accused of being unreliable.