Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suspects foreign forces of having their hands on the election of the mayor of Istanbul on Sunday. „Why are so many circles abroad so interested in who will lead Istanbul?“ He asked today in a campaign speech in Istanbul’s Sancaktepe district.
„Do we care who becomes mayor in London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam or Brussels? That means there’s something behind it. „Erdogan also accused the promising candidate Ekrem Imamoglu of the main opposition party CHP of being supported from abroad and by terrorists.
Imamoglu was just ahead of ACP candidates
At the local election on 31 March Imamoglu had initially surprisingly and just ahead of the candidate of the governing party AKP Erdogan, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim won. The AKP had a long power monopoly in Istanbul. However, following election by the AKP, the electoral commission annulled the result for alleged irregularities and continued to repeat the election on 23 June. The decision met with international criticism.
Local politician Imamoglu, unknown until just a few weeks ago, had become the star of Turkish politics with his surprise victory over the AKP. For Erdogan-Verdrossene, he now stands as a symbol that political change is possible.
