With about one month to municipal elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was back on the campaign trail for his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Hours before the delivery of new homes for earthquake victims in the city, which was among those hit by the 2023 earthquakes, Erdoğan was welcomed by an enormous crowd outside a sports hall where he revealed candidates of his party for districts of Şanlıurfa province.
Şanlıurfa, a major tourism hub in the southeast that was plagued by terrorism for decades, has overwhelmingly supported the AK Party since the party was founded in the early 2000s. The AK Party has not lost a municipal election there since 2004, unlike other southeastern provinces where a party associated with the PKK terrorist group often emerged victorious. The AK Party nominated incumbent Mayor Zeynel Abidin Beyazgül for the March 31 elections.
“Şanlıurfa, which has been at the heart of major civilizations throughout its history, has a special place in our hearts too,” Erdoğan told a crowd of AK Party supporters. The province is home to Göbeklitepe, one of the oldest settlements in the world and is also believed to be the place of birth of the Prophet Abraham. Erdoğan boasted his party’s record of services to Şanlıurfa. The president highlighted Şanlıurfa’s fame as a “city of Muslim mystics.” He also hit out at one of the longest-serving mayors of Şanlıurfa who split ways with the party in 2022.
“Those who walked with us in the past made their choice. Everyone can be a politician but you cannot be a statesman,” he said.
He called upon the members of the party to work hard to increase the support for the AK Party in the elections.
Criticizing the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Erdoğan said the CHP has been a supporter of “political affiliates” of the PKK for a long time. “They believe they can increase their vote by courting them. But they are only puppets of terrorist groups. The CHP is a lost cause,” he said.
With its spirits lifted by double victories in the May 2023 general elections, the AK Party aims to recoup its losses in the 2019 municipal elections. With 17 election wins under its belt in general and local elections, the party will head to the March 2024 municipal vote.
Istanbul, Türkiye’s most populated city, and the capital of Ankara will be in focus for the AK Party, and multiple rallies will be held in those cities.
The party has already announced candidates for mayors of all big cities, including Istanbul. Former Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum will challenge CHP's incumbent Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu for Türkiye's most populated city, while Turgut Altınok will square off against incumbent Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş.
After the ceremony, Erdoğan attended the delivery of keys for 1,314 houses to earthquake victims. The president has spent the week delivering new homes to victims in southern provinces. Speaking at a drawing for prospective house owners, Erdoğan said Türkiye managed to overcome the repercussions of the “disaster of the century,” which claimed over 53,000 lives on Feb. 6, 2023. He reiterated his promise to deliver thousands of more housing units by the end of 2024 for people left homeless by the disasters.
Around 38,901 buildings were destroyed by the first 7.8 magnitude tremor and initial aftershocks, which included one of a 7.5 magnitude later that day.
Türkiye has set up 215,224 metal containers to house 691,000 survivors who lost their homes and have been unable to find new accommodation on their own.
As Türkiye marks the first anniversary of the disaster, people living in the hardest-hit regions are grieving deceased family and friends, struggling to rebuild livelihoods and grasping for closure in cases where loved ones are still missing.
A massive rebuilding effort is underway in areas devastated by the quake. The Turkish government is rushing to build more than 300,000 homes for displaced families. Government officials say the new homes being built are designed to withstand strong earthquakes.
