Istanbul's mayoral race was held twice in 2019, and opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu won both times. Fast forward from June 27, 2019 — the day Imamoglu, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), accepted the position of mayor — to August 2020, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proudly announced the conversion to mosques of both the Hagia Sophia and the Chora Museum.
The Islamization of Istanbul continues as conservative Erdogan supporters enthusiastically cheer for the reconquest of the city with each new mosque announcement. Pro-government media ridicules how the West cannot accept the loss of the Hagia Sophia or Istanbul. As television crews interviewed people waiting to attend Friday prayers on the day of the opening of Hagia Sophia as a mosque, one middle-aged man passionately said, “Today, we took Istanbul back.”
Even before Imamoglu assumed the mayor’s seat, it was an open secret that Erdogan intended to curtail the powers of municipal leaders. But the extent of usurpation having reached this level this quick was unfathomable. Al-Monitor spoke with both Justice and Development Party (AKP) and CHP members of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM).
The AKP holds the majority in the IMM’s city council. It has 39 smaller municipalities, and 24 of those belong to the AKP. The IMM’s budget and revenues are a critical source of income, and the AKP is not willing to let it go. Istanbul accounts for 31% of the national gross domestic product.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
