Seeking support for his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in Afyonkarahisar in western Türkiye on Wednesday. Addressing an enormous crowd, Erdoğan promised better cities to the electorate after the March 31 municipal elections.
The AK Party, allied with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), competes with a wide array of opposition parties looking to grab mayoral seats from AK Party strongholds.
In his speech, Erdoğan touted his ambitious “Century of Türkiye” vision disclosed ahead of the Republic of Türkiye’s 100th anniversary marked last year. The president said this “new century” will be a time of “rise” in politics, economy and defense for Türkiye, and cities will also adapt to it.
“We will develop our cities as safe, calm places in harmony with nature and environment, aesthetically pleasant places whose historical, cultural and natural wealth are preserved,” he said. The president thanked the “record” vote of Afyonkarahisar in last year’s legislative and presidential elections for the AK Party, at around 64%.
“I believe you will make a difference again,” he told the fervent crowd.
The president said the republic crowned Türkiye’s War of Independence a century ago and subsequent elections will inaugurate the "Century of Türkiye."
“We left behind a century of pain that followed the foundation of the republic but we addressed the shortcomings of this century with our steps toward democracy and development in the past 21 years (since the AK Party came to power),” he said.
“The new century will be the rise of our country solely,” he said.
“Our march toward this century will include improved municipal services, developing cities resistant to disasters,” he added.
Erdoğan also hit out at the opposition parties, particularly the AK Party’s main rival, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which turned to artificial intelligence (AI) in its candidate selection process for the local vote.
“The opposition knows nothing about the nation, about basic values of politics. They don’t ask the citizens about candidates; they ask artificial intelligence. They don’t have any concrete plans that will resolve the challenges our cities face. They think the voters will vote for them again anyway. As they did in the past elections, they collaborated with those guided by Qandil,” he said, referring to the hideout of the leadership of the PKK terrorist group, which is affiliated with Green Left Party (YSP), informally known as the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), a successor of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
The CHP sought an alliance with the YSP, but the two parties have failed to reach a nationwide consensus for an alliance for the upcoming elections, though they reportedly agreed to support candidates in some cities and districts.
