President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hit the road for the campaign trail as soon as he returned from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt where he was for two important diplomatic visits. Erdoğan was in the Black Sea provinces of Ordu and Giresun on Friday for his ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) campaign for the March 31 municipal elections.
As the crowd cheered the president, who enjoys overwhelming support in the region his parents hail from, Erdoğan listed accomplishments of successive AK Party governments and party-run municipalities, asking the electorate to "leave their mark in the ballots again."
Ordu is an AK Party stronghold where Hilmi Güler, a former minister, garnered more than 56% of the vote in the 2019 elections. Güler is nominated again for the upcoming elections, which will be the first test for the AK Party since it won general elections last year. The president thanked the voters in Ordu, where he garnered 62% of the votes in the presidential elections last May. In the meantime, the president criticized former AK Party members who ran for the opposition parties in Ordu in the upcoming vote. "We don't care what they are doing. We don't care about those who plan to switch to the AK Party after winning the vote. We only walk together with those loyal (to our cause)," he said.
Erdoğan then screened a compilation of videos showing infrastructure investments in Ordu, from an airport to improved roads to the crowd. "Our policy is based on services. We are not like the CHP," he said, as his remarks inevitably targeted the AK Party's main rival Republican People's Party (CHP). "We don't have a shameful past like them; we are not like today's CHP, which is mired with infighting and uses lies as the basis of their policies," he said.
Erdoğan stated that the investments they introduced to Ordu were "countless" and emphasized that they would continue to develop, grow and beautify Ordu in all areas.
Erdoğan emphasized that the world was going through tough times, but they were doing their best even in those times, prioritizing investment, employment and production. He said they would not resort to austerity measures affecting citizens and were working to improve everyone's purchasing power, from pensioners to people running small businesses.
"Our main goal is to establish a strong infrastructure to provide real and permanent economic prosperity. When we solve the cost of living problem, we have a climate where we can progress much faster in other areas," he said.
Erdoğan recounted that the AK Party, in its first tenure in the early 2000s, struggled to address the issues it inherited from past governments and now they focused on a future vision they called "Century of Türkiye." "We are preparing our country for the future in every field, from politics and economy to technology and defense."
Its spirits were lifted by double victories in the May 2023 general elections, and the AK Party aims to recoup its losses in the 2019 municipal elections. With 17 election wins under its belt in general and local elections, the party will head to the March 2024 municipal vote. Erdoğan is expected to hold rallies in more than 50 provinces.
Voters will head to the ballot boxes on March 31 to elect mayors, district mayors and local headmen called mukhtars in villages and neighborhoods. The AK Party looks to recapture key cities, including Istanbul and the capital Ankara. As the country's largest city and economic hub, Istanbul stands as a focal point in Türkiye's political landscape, acting as a stronghold for various political movements. The outcome of the elections is more than the appointment of a mayor; it has the potential to either reinforce existing political dynamics or signify a shift in the broader political balance. The mayor of Istanbul holds a position of considerable influence, impacting local governance and policies with resonance on the national stage.
