For Kurum The Bell Tolls

Issue #203

Anyone missing the beats of pre-dawn Ramadan drummers can click here for relief. And anyone trying to keep up with election news can click here for Recap radio.

Our Antalya episode drops Saturday!

In this week’s recap:

• Pre-election squabbles and wobbles

• Fidan works to mend US ties

• Iraq operation loading

• Femicides continue in Turkey

• Calls for Ukraine-Russia peace talks

• Turkey’s credit outlook improves

• Mental illness on the rise

And in our original reports:

• Ceren İskit on the alimony bill that could further weaken women’s rights

• Nimet Kıraç on the legal campaigns against polluters in İskenderun Bay

• Diego Cupolo on the prospects for Erdoğan’s Ukraine-Russia peace summit

Kurum said he likes a planned life. Don’t ask who’s doing the planning. Source

Who is on the meter-long ballot for the İstanbul elections? Is it Ekrem Kurum, Muratoğlu or İmam Hatipoğlu? Voters are confused.

As more polls come out for İstanbul, many show CHP mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in the lead. Though KONDA pollster Bekir Ağırdır noted "movement occurs not between pro-government and anti-government blocks, but primarily within the blocks among parties."

This is important because tensions have been brewing between DEM and CHP since March 6. That day, CHP’s Afyonkarahisar mayoral candidate Burcu Köksal in a speech said: “When I am elected, the doors of Afyonkarahisar Municipality will be open to all political parties except for DEM Party.”

While CHP head Özgür Özel said the statement was a mistake, İmamoğlu made a stronger comment, saying Köksal “should either find another job or find another party". As a result, leaflets were distributed in İstanbul calling on Kurds not to vote for CHP, which won the 2019 election with support from Kurdish voters.

Meanwhile, DEM İstanbul candidate Meral Danış Beştaş was interviewed on the mainstream TV channel Habertürk Wednesday evening. It’s been years since the station invited DEM or HDP members, causing some people to view the rare appearance as a strategy to undermine İmamoğlu.

In the AKP camp, the party’s İstanbul candidate Murat Kurum also appeared on Habertürk for a show where the whole concept was to avoid talking about politics. The broadcast got uncomfortable – fast.

Among other questionable remarks, Kurum said he drove a car without a license when he was young. He said this as national news and popular anger is focused on the story of an unlicensed minor who fled the country after killing a man in a car accident.

Commenting on the AKP’s campaign, Prof. Emre Erdoğan, a political scientist at Bilgi University, said Kurum is not a typical charismatic candidate, adding:

“He's configured as a man of duty. He was a long-term bureaucrat … and as a minister he is not more than a secretary for Erdoğan.”

He went on, saying that Kurum’s mission is to consolidate the AKP base in the city through distribution of municipal services, but the party leadership would remain with Pres. Erdoğan.

“[Kurum’s] tone has changed over the campaign and he started to act as a politician engaging in debates with İmamoğlu,” he said, adding he believed Kurum was not qualified for such a political role.

“The expectation was that Erdoğan would take the campaign leadership, however, it hasn’t happened yet,” Erdoğan continued, adding the president could step in, if necessary.

Commenting on the opposition, Erdoğan said “there is no CHP campaign”, adding İmamoğlu runs his own campaign. Notably, Özgür Özel has (almost) no presence on billboards in İstanbul in contrast to other large cities.

“Generally speaking, the CHP leadership failed to win the confidence of disillusioned voters of the May elections and Özel didn't perform well,” the academic concluded.

Finally, in a surprising move, Pres. Erdoğan announced Friday this election would be his last. “For me this is a final. With the authority of the law, this election is my last election,” he was quoted as saying.

Michael Daventry aka James in Turkey detailed what it could possibly mean, but it wasn’t the first time he uttered the words, as journalist Arzu Geybullayeva wrote here.

Former Justice Min. and current AKP MP Bekir Bozdağ chimed in to say the president could run again if Parliament calls for early elections, casting more doubts on the prospects for retirement and the man’s AI-generated future as a musical prodigy.

– Ingrid Woudwijk