Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the recapture of Istanbul

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan didn't sound like a politician when he spoke at the former Atatürk Airport in Istanbul's European quarter on Sunday, March 24. Without naming Murad Kurum, who has been appointed by his party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), to wrest the metropolis from the hands of the opposition, he told the crowd: “I believe that Istanbul will find its owners 1^{There is} Avril », the day after the municipal elections. to do “Oi” From the public, he replies: “This is the city to which I have dedicated my life and will dedicate my last breath to it. »

From the very beginning, everything is told with the clear honesty that precedes these words, without many artifices. Born in Istanbul and raised in one of its most popular neighborhoods, “Mr. Taiyib”, as his followers call him, never left the city that inspired his dazzling political career. Elected mayor in 1994, for a remarkable mandate, he controlled the affairs and administration of the megacity with his AKP representatives for almost twenty-five years, a time of electoral victories, until this heavy defeat in 2019 to the benefit of the enemy. Ekrem Imamoglu, now a candidate for his own successor.

Istanbul is “A Key Element of the Erdogan Brand”, says analyst and journalist Amberin Zaman. A world city, beyond the symbolic fee it holds for the president, it represents almost half of the country's tax base and a third of its economic output. Its administration is an invaluable source of support for political offices, with significant access to public and private resources. “He will lose Izmir and Ankara again, but not Istanbul, and victory has become essential to him.”columnist Mehmet Altan underlines.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has decided to enter the arena in the last straight as the outgoing mayor, the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), presents a real chance of retaining his seat. A chance to take on a role he's always wanted: that of a leader who throws himself into a fight, defies the crowd, and challenges his opponent to a duel at which point only he can be overshadowed. “Si Ser Egrem”He named it for the first time, on Sunday, March 24.

A candidate with “no political personality”.

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