Post by iain on Apr 3, 2024 22:20:10 GMT
Apr 2, 2024 15:42:28 GMT iain said:
In Van (the second biggest Kurdish city in the SE) the winning Dem Party (aka the new HDP) candidate has been disqualified. Rather than rerunning the election, the court has decided to award the election to the second placed candidate, from the AKP.Anyway, in terms of the big prizes, the metro mayors (basically the larger provinces where the mayor is elected by the whole province rather than just one city - you can see a list / map here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_municipalities_in_Turkey):
CHP - 14 (+3)
the AKP - 12 (-3)
DEM - 3 - including Van
YRP - 1 (+1)
The CHP gained Bursa, Balıkesir and Denizli from the AKP, plus Manisa from the MHP (who ran in alliance with AKP), but lost Hatay to the AKP on a low turnout due to a combination of a controversial mayor and a poor response to the devastating earthquake last year.
The other mayoralty to change hands was Şanlıurfa, where the Islamist Yeniden Refah Partisi (New Welfare Party) broke through, defeating the AKP.
Some background:
www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/pro-kurdish-party-challenges-election-outcomes-eastern-turkey-2024-04-02/#:~:text=Abdullah%20Zeydan%2C%20DEM%20candidate%20in,Erdogan's%20AK%20Party%20(AKP).
However, the Turkish state has a long history of replacing elected mayors in Kurdish areas with 'trustees' appointed by the centre, so I doubt if this will be the end of the story.
