Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to run for the last time in the local elections scheduled for the end of March.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants to run for the last time in the local elections scheduled for the end of March. “This is my final, my last election,” he said on Friday, according to the state news agency Anadolu.
Erdoğan is considered the most successful politician in modern Turkey and has led the country for more than two decades. He has won more than a dozen elections since 2002. In May 2023, Erdoğan was re-elected to a five-year term in contested elections.
The outcome of March 31 elections in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, is seen as key to the political fate of Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, long seen as a potential leader of the main opposition CHP party and possibly a future president.
When Imamoğlu won in Istanbul five years ago, it was a bitter blow for Erdoğan and his AKP. Nevertheless, Erdoğan was able to prevail again in the presidential election last year.
Close race
Recent polls suggest a close race. The MAK polling institute this week found 41.5% support for Imamoğlu, just 1.5 points ahead of AKP candidate Murat Kurum. According to pollster Murat Gezici, Kurum is ahead with 44.1%, ahead of Imamoğlu with 43.5%.
“The race is a neck-and-neck on a knife’s edge,” Özer Sencar, chairman of polling institute Metropoll, told Reuters, emphasizing the importance of Istanbul for future national politics. “If Ekrem Imamoğlu wins the election in Istanbul and this election is not canceled in any way by objections, he will become president in 2028,” he said.
More information coming soon