“First statement from İmamoğlu on AKP candidate Kurum: I don’t categorize my chances as before or after

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is nominated again by the CHP in the local elections, made his first statement on his AK Party rival Murat Kurum. The İBB Mayor stated, ‘I don’t categorize my chances as before or after Murat Kurum.’

Speaking to media about the upcoming elections to be held in March, İmamoğlu, noting that alliances were clearer in the local elections held five years ago, said, ‘It is a fact that there is a more challenging arithmetic or ground compared to the previous election; at that time, alliances were in a more clear position, but now the preferences of political parties are in a different position.’

No change before or after Kurum

Regarding his chances against AK Party’s İBB mayoral candidate Murat Kurum, announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the weekend, İmamoğlu responded as follows:

“I don’t categorize my chances as before or after Murat Kurum; I have same chances today as I had before.”

Istanbul and Ankara are crucial

Being the largest city in Turkey and managing a significant budget, Istanbul and Ankara are of great importance to the AK Party. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has expressed his desire to reclaim Istanbul several times before. However, after the general elections won by the AK Party and MHP alliance last May, İYİ Party announced that it would enter the local elections with its own candidates but has not yet revealed the candidates.

In his continued statement, İmamoğlu said, ‘I am not sure whether the choices of political parties and those who vote for them change equally or evolve with the preferences of political parties. Because it is necessary not to forget that the alliance formed locally during that period was largely matured by the people living in Istanbul.’

İstanbul Alliance and İmamoğlu’s Test

Imamoğlu went on to say, ‘The great alliance that matured this process in Istanbul, the Istanbul Alliance… I think it gave people a tremendous taste. Now, if Ekrem İmamoğlu successfully passes the test of those five years, I believe it can be further strengthened.’

Additionally, İmamoğlu said, ‘So, will the direction drawn by the political parties be effective, or will the direction drawn through the sensitivity of the society to this alliance be effective, we will see that in this competition.’

A Turning Point in 2019

İmamoğlu noted that as the years passed, democracy and justice regressed in Turkey, saying, ‘In such a process, there was a turning point in Turkey regarding local and general elections, and that was in 2019.’ He mentioned the local elections held in March 2019, where İstanbul candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu completed the race ahead of AK Party candidate, former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, but the election was canceled by the Supreme Election Council (YSK) and re-run on June 23, 2019. İmamoğlu won the re-run elections with a larger margin.

İmamoğlu continued: “As the success of the government continued in the general elections, there was a turning point in the local elections. I think this is actually a struggle for democracy, a different perspective, integration, being able to think together, not polarization but the struggle for unity in Turkey.”