Kemal Kilicdaroglu is ahead of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the major Turkish cities, the most important of which are Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, Izmir, Diyarbakir, Adana, Mersin, and Antalya, and in coastal cities and areas in general on the Aegean and Mediterranean seas..
The results of the three largest cities
- Istanbul: Kilicdaroglu won 48.6 percent of the vote in Turkey’s largest city, compared to 46.7 percent for Erdogan..
- Ankara: The leader of the opposition got 47.3 percent of the vote, compared to 46 percent for Erdogan .
- Izmir: Kilicdaroglu managed to win 63.3 percent of the vote, compared to 31.5 percent for Erdogan..
Between Ataturk and Erbakan
- These numbers reveal, according to experts and observers, the nature of the intense competition in these elections, between the conservative religious and social Justice and Development Movement, which is in some way an extension of Turkish political Islam and its godfather Necmettin Erbakan, and the secular, leftist, open social Republican People’s Movement, and the heir to the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa. Kemal Ataturk.
- This means, according to them, that “the battle in its essence revolves around defining Turkey, defining its options and its political, strategic and civil affiliations.”.
Open possibilities
Commenting on this, the writer and expert on Turkish affairs, Tariq Johar, said in an interview with “Sky News Arabia”:
- “There is no doubt that Kilicdaroglu’s supremacy in the major Turkish cities, most notably Istanbul, the capital, Ankara, and the largest Kurdish city, Diyarbakir, is an indication of the nature of the sharp polarization taking place in the country after 20 years of Erdogan and his party’s rule.”.
- “The competition is between a leftist and secular current that relies on the voices of city dwellers, the middle classes, students, youth, and various components and minorities, most notably the Kurds and Alawites, and a conservative current that employs Turkish religious and national discourse to serve its goals in winning the votes of rural, peripheral, and extremist environments, which are usually affected by such propaganda.” “.
- “In general, it is true that Erdogan’s electoral base declined, as he failed to win during the first round, and his party lost about 7 points, dropping from 42 percent of the parliamentary seats to 35 percent, by 267 seats, losing 28 parliamentary seats, but despite that He was ahead of his opponent, albeit by a small margin, which means that the second round will be more intense than the first..
- “The opposition candidate, on the other hand, has strong chances, and leads a political alliance that represents a wide societal diversity that is characterized by modernity much more than the alliance of power.”
- “The opposition leader’s coalition is benefiting from the worsening economic and social crises in the country, for which, of course, the government bears responsibility.”
- “This alliance achieved a parliamentary progress of 3 points, occupying more than 25 percent of the seats in Parliament with 169 seats, after the number of its representatives was 146 in the 2018 session, or 22 percent.”.
“key” cities
Erdogan’s loss in the major cities is a sign that the possibility of his losing during the second round is a “very likely” possibility, according to observers.
The reason for this is that the compass of the voice of these electoral cities is usually the test, and the importance of their votes is not measured only numerically, but rather by the pivotal political, economic, cultural and emotional roles they represent and play in Turkey, even Erdogan himself once said, that whoever rules Istanbul rules Turkey .
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