“If the next presidential elections were held under normal conditions, it would be very difficult for the ruling AKP party to win,” according to Ali Tirali, an adviser to the now jailed Istanbul Mayor and pre-eminent Erdogan rival Ekrem Imamoglu, who spoke to BHMA day after a massive turnout to nominate the CHP’s candidate for the presidency.
More than 15 million Turks – of which 13 million aren’t even members of the main opposition party – confirmed Imamoglu as the next presidential candidate when general elections are held, an astonishing figure given that the Istanbul mayor was the only one on the internal party ballot.
Tirali, the head of the Ideapolitik Institute, said the political “soil” of Turkey was now fertile for a change, the Kemalist CHP outdid the ruling AKP in the last local government elections, and despite the 2023 loss of then party candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu against powerful incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“This impressive rallying of the electorate on Sunday can be considered the key political development of the CHP’s primaries (process) and the wider political opposition, while citizens have been demonstrating in recent days, unbowed by the bans and repression,” Tirali told BHMA. He added that in some provinces, 30% or 25% of the total number of registered voters appeared to have turned out for the CHP primary.
On his part, noted academic Ilhan Uzgel, a CHP deputy chairperson and “shadow” foreign minister, also referred to “multiple messages” from the Republican People’s (CHP) primary.
“The high participation and mobilization of our young people is something that surpasses Mr. Imamoglu. This has to do with democracy, which is in danger in Turkey; it has to do with equality, finding a right job, living without fear, censorship, bans and repression. Voting takes on an added value in repressive regimes. It is one of the ways for millions of citizens who dare not take to the streets to express their discontent,” he said.
