Saad El Bahri.
Istambul- The whole Turkey has been waiting for the results of the municipal elections held yesterday, March 30th.
The current primary results show a very strong lead for the AKP, which is the party of current prime minister Receb Teyyeb Erdogan.
According to TRT Turk (a public Turkish Channel), after counting 62% of the votes, the AKP has a lead of 48.5% with a big difference from its direct opponent CHP (Republican People’s party), which is currently second with a vote percentage of 29.7%.
These primary results do not only show that the governing party still holds the reigns of power in the country, but also show that it is actually doing better than in the last local elections of 2009. These results were surprising for some who were expecting a decline in the AKP’s popularity after the last events and leaks, but especially because of banning Twitter and YouTube.
Also, the AKP showed that the claims stating that the Muhammed Fethullah Gülen’s movement (Hizmet movement) was a major reason for the big popularity of Erdogan and his party were wrong. Actually, the numbers are showing that the AK party is doing better without this movement since they are clearly enemies nowadays.
What actually draws attention in these kind of elections in Turkey is not the general percentages, but rather how well big parties do in major cities of Turkey. Up to know, the AKP is leading by more than 10% in Istanbul. It also has a good lead in Ankara. AKP comes second in Izmir which is known to be the home of the opposing party CHP. Erdogan’s party has actually scored much better in this major city than it did in 2009.
At this very moment of writing this article, fireworks are lightening the sky of Istanbul celebrating AKP’s win, and cars horns can be heard in spite that the local time is past midnight.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Receb Teyyeb Erdogan made his appearance around midnight in Ankara in front of a big crowd. With his usual Rabia sign, Erdogan accompanied with his wife was warmly received by thousands of his supporters who left their homes in spite of the cold temperature and the late time. Erdogan began his speech by thanking everyone who voted today, in addition to whoever “prayed for Turkey in the whole Muslim world”.
Erdogan did not forget to state his unconditional support for the Syrian people before starting to shoot at all directions, starting with Muhammed Fethullah Gülen who lives in a self-imposed exile in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania.
Turkey’s prime minister said that “traitors have no place in Turkey” and challenged them to come back from where they are. He also reminded of the promise he made of resigning if his party does not get the first place in the elections and challenged leaders of other parties to do the same after their failures. For Erdogan, democracy won today and not only AKP. The first man in Turkey reserved some minutes to attack whomever leaked sensitive phone calls and meetings of the Turkish minister of foreign affairs, directly accusing Gulen’s movement of destroying the country.
Saad Bahri.
