In Türkiye's recent local elections on March 31, a notable departure from the political landscape emerged compared to the elections held just 10 months prior, in which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan secured victory with 52% of the vote.
This time around, voters significantly favored the main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP), in local governance. Despite receiving nearly 14 million votes (30%) in the 2019 elections, the CHP substantially increased its support, garnering over 17 million votes (38%) in the latest elections. As a result, the party successfully claimed mayorships in 35 provinces, particularly excelling in coastal regions and managing to retain control over metropolitans like Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.
Contrarily, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) experienced a setback, securing second place in the elections after maintaining a winning streak since 2002. With nearly 16.3 million votes (36%), the AK Party conceded victory to the CHP. Nevertheless, it still managed to win municipalities in 24 provinces.
Inland regions witnessed a notable shift as well, with the AK Party seizing major cities such as Konya, Kayseri and Erzurum, alongside Trabzon on the Black Sea coast. Despite its victory in the 2019 elections with 20.5 million votes and a 45% vote share in municipal contests, the AK Party faced a more competitive landscape this time around.
A few months ago, the electorate, who had entrusted the country's governance to Erdoğan in the face of a six-party coalition, sent a clear message to the government through the local elections, with the economy at the forefront. This is because Erdoğan failed to meet the pre-election demands for pension increases, following the strict economic program implemented by Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek.
In Türkiye, a sizable group of retiree voters, predominantly leaning toward the AK Party, did not shift their allegiance to the CHP in this election. Instead, disgruntled retirees turned to the New Welfare Party (YRP), which had formed an alliance with the AK Party in the May 28 presidential and parliamentary elections but fielded independent candidates in these elections. During the campaign, the YRP, appealing to the AK Party base by advocating for tougher sanctions against Israel, managed to secure around 3 million votes and won the mayorships of two provinces.
The opposition, achieving a rare electoral success after years, received over half of its 3 million votes from the secular nationalist Good Party (IP), with which it had formed an alliance in the May 2023 elections. The IP, now on the brink of dissolution, saw a decline in its vote share from 3.5 million in the 2019 elections to 1.7 million in the 2024 elections. Additionally, half of the votes of the pro-PKK Green Left Party (YSP), informally known as the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), a successor of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), shifted to the CHP.
Now, Türkiye faces four years without elections. During this time, President Erdoğan will focus on the country's fundamental problem, the economy. The markets have responded positively to the elimination of uncertainty. The stock market is rising, while the dollar is stable.
Meanwhile, the opposition, even if victorious locally, will strive to preserve their entrusted votes until the 2028 elections. CHP Chairperson Özgür Özel's stance against early elections is indicative of their adoption of a longer-term and rational strategy this time.
The "Western civilization," including Muslim countries, made a humanitarian gesture to the people of Gaza ahead of Ramadan. Aircraft belonging to the air forces of the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Egypt, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and France took off from a military airbase east of Amman, the capital of Jordan. A fleet of 14 aircraft dropped 10 tons of aid over Gaza. The crates contained flour, sugar, rice, beans, pulses, oil and drinking water.
Even in eras when the world has fallen into the clutches of "collective madness," such disgrace in the name of civilization has never been witnessed.
Indeed, hasn't Israel's genocide been recorded in South Africa's genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague? So, what is this that's happening? Reaching out to the victims of genocide by plane and dropping food on their heads – what kind of helplessness is this?
Is there any difference between what they are doing and dropping food and water from the air to Auschwitz?
We are ashamed of our humanity.
