The incident illustrates the heated atmosphere before the Turkish elections: the opposition politician Ekrem Imamoglu literally had to flee.
Erzurum – The Turkish opposition politician Ekrem Imamoglu was attacked during the election campaign – and therefore had to stop his appearance. The incident happened exactly a week before Türkiye Election 2023. Imagmolu is the mayor of the metropolis of Istanbul.
His office released footage of the attack in the eastern Turkish city of Erzurum, where the politician delivered a campaign speech on Sunday. Angry demonstrators hurled stones at his campaign bus, forcing Imamoglu to abandon the performance and leave the scene.
Erdogan’s challenger Imamoglu pursued by a mob during the election campaign
Footage posted online showed police using water cannon to disperse protesters and prevent them from pursuing the bus. According to media reports from the Türkiye seven people were slightly injured. Imamoglu spoke of a provocation and demanded an explanation from the local authorities.
The province is run by the Islamic Conservative Party AKP by head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan controlled. Incidentally, a report by the opposition party CHP last autumn revealed the cooperation between members of the AKP government and the mafia. Several AKP deputies also swear the foreign Turks in Germany to the elections. The Ditib and IGMG (Milli Görüş) mosques are primarily used for this purpose.
Erdogan sees “fateful choice – and polls Kilicdaroglu close by
The incident illustrated how tense the situation in Turkey is ahead of the first round of the presidential election. Imamoglu supports the opposition politician Kemal Kilicdaroglu in his election campaign. If the opposition wins the elections, the popular mayor of Istanbul has the prospect of becoming vice president.
Erdoğan, who has been in power for 20 years, speaks of a “fateful choice”. For the first time, he is not considered the clear favorite – this is shown by current polls for Turkey’s elections. Instead, a close race is emerging between him and Kilicdaroglu. (AFP/frs)
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