The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has launched the third and final stage of its election campaign for the March 31 local elections, revealing region-based mottos to emphasize special features.
With only 25 days left until the municipal elections, the party will pay attention to each region's unique characteristics, while the slogan of "developing Turkey with charming cities" will be used throughout Turkey.
According to reports, unlike previous campaigns, the AK Party has set up a new election strategy, devised for introducing AK Party services and accomplishments in the municipalities that are not currently held by the party. In the AK Party municipalities, the elections slogan will focus attention on the party's "local administrations" approach.
While the same rhetoric will be used throughout Turkey, the party will localize this approach with two different slogans to appeal to the other party's voter bases in each city. In AK Party municipalities, the slogan of "Going steadfast for Turkey" will be preferred, while in the municipalities that are not in the hands of the AK Party, the slogan will put emphasis on transformations, notably in municipal services.
Commenting on the issue, AK Party Deputy Chairman Mahir Ünal said during a live show on the state-owned TRT channel in January that each province has different demands, needs and characteristics and therefore the party will inevitably change its rhetoric to attract more voters coming from different backgrounds.
The AK Party has been regarded as a center-right mainstream party that has been in power since 2003. The party has also won in most of the provinces in the local elections since 2004, coming to the fore with its success of rejuvenating its party organizations and discourse to appeal to the electorate from across the political spectrum.
As part of its election campaign, promotional films have been prepared related to titles highlighted in the party's manifesto. The principles, including infrastructure and transportation projects, urban transformation, smart cities, social municipality, horizontal architecture and transparent municipality will be explained to the public through the introductory films.
Also, social media and other mediums will take the place of traditional campaign methods in the campaign. While the party will concentrate more on effectively using the internet and social media to attract more voters, social media training for the seven regions will be completed and a general information guide will be prepared for all organization managers and party members to efficiently share tweets and messages.
Intensifying its preparation for the March 31 local elections since the finalization of its candidate determination process on Jan. 27, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the chairman of the party, has been traveling to numerous cities as a part of the election campaign and organizing rallies. However, the party which wants to strengthen its relations with its electorate, will bring together its organizations with veteran party members, parliamentarians and mayors in a bid to relay information for the upcoming local elections.