Istanbul mayor challenges AKP government on visit to Erdogan’s home province
Ekrem Imamoglu of the Republican People’s Party took his campaign to Rize on the Black Sea coast during the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
ISTANBUL — The opposition mayor of Istanbul has stirred up controversy during the Ramadan holiday with a visit to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s home province on the Black Sea coast.
Ekrem Imamoglu, who won a landslide victory for the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in 2019, was greeted by cheering crowds as he arrived in Rize for the Eid al-Fitr break.
Erdogan’s family hails from the province, which is a stronghold for the president’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). He received 77% of the province’s votes in the 2018 presidential race while the AKP’s candidate in the last local election took 73%.
Although the idea of the mayor of Istanbul holding political rallies so far from the city may seem strange, Imamoglu is a native of neighboring Trabzon province and the end of Ramadan is traditionally a time for people to visit their home towns.
