President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in the southern province of Mersin on Thursday for a municipal election campaign ahead of the March 31 vote. In his address to a large crowd of supporters, the leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) hit out at the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which retains the mayoral seat in the Mediterranean province.

"You don’t have to tolerate those politicians. Let us end their era on March 31," Erdoğan told supporters in Mersin, where the People’s Alliance of his AK Party garnered 40% of the vote in the presidential election last year. Some 85,000 people attended Erdoğan’s rally, according to the official figures.

As he screened a video compilation of public services and improvement in infrastructure undertaken by the government in Mersin, Erdoğan said the opposition gave the city "nothing."

"The CHP municipality did not do anything for Mersin. You cannot entrust Mersin to them again," he said.

Erdoğan said the CHP lacked a vision for the city's future. "Their only dream is fulfilling their own political ambitions. They are so engaged in fighting each other, they don’t know what to do for the country, for the cities," Erdoğan said.

The CHP is embattled with internal disagreements as some supporters of the party opposed the administration’s choice of candidate in several cities.