Leave aside ideological obsessions, grudges and hatred. Such attitude and behaviors are the luxuries of the wealthy who have no concerns about the future. However, these luxuries of the wealthy could potentially risk the future of today's youth.

We are able to estimate the expectations of those who are trying to turn the local elections into plebiscites, of those who are saying "Anyone but Erdoğan," and of those who are trying to re-invite the PKK to the arena of terrorism.

There is not much room for permanence and development in the visions of tomorrow.

For them, it does not matter who will provide the best service, or who has the most realistic projects, or how more livable cities can be attained. İzmir and concern for the future I have spoken with the youth in İzmir.

Many consider migrating to Istanbul a forced necessity. I heard someone say, "The structure of this city has no promising future."

Even business owners are looking for possibilities to move to Istanbul. İzmir, with its incredibly rich history and nature, is currently unable to renew itself. Had the recent ring roads not been built, the traffic in this city was about to become so congested that it would never open again.

These highly conscious voters should really not give an opportunity to those who perceive the March 30 elections as regime plebiscites and who go by the motto "Anyone but Erdoğan." It is time every voter starts considering who will be able to provide what services.

Topbaş and Büyükerşen

The winner should be determined based on vision and performance, rather than based on which party the candidate represents.

What does it matter if Kadir Topbaş represents the AK Party in Istanbul, or if Yılmaz Büyükerşen represents the Republican People's Party (CHP) in Eskişehir? Do they not both receive support well beyond their parties based on the services they provide and the steps taken toward making life easier? The biggest indication of service, and thus success, can be determined by the votes of the of highly conscious urbanites.

We have learned

Let us not hand over the future of the city to street protests, parallel structure interferences, and the obsessive and hateful segments who waste their votes on distortions of perception and ideological polarization. We need to arrive at a conclusion to turn local elections into service-oriented competitions.

We have had countless elections since Turkey became a multi-party democracy. We are now quite experienced and should be able to tell the difference between good and bad, lazy and diligent, talkers and doers.

The results of the March 30 elections should expand the horizon of all cities.