All eyes on Turkey's 3 biggest cities as local elections approach
Turks suffering under 20% inflation and 13.5% unemployment may punish President Erdogan's coalition in March 31 elections in the nation's three largest cities.
ANKARA, Turkey — The municipal elections are less than two weeks away, and observers are wondering what is going to happen in Turkey’s three biggest cities: Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has invested enormous amounts of his time and energy in the campaign, making two or three speeches a day. He knows he is more popular than his Justice and Development Party (AKP). He also knows the economic conditions — 20% inflation, 13.5% unemployment and soaring prices of vegetables — have turned the March 31 elections into a referendum on his rule.
Istanbul is always the biggest prize in Turkish elections. Turks say, “He who wins Istanbul, wins Turkey.” Often the party that captures the city of 15 million people turns out to be the national winner as well.
Izmir, the smallest of the three cities by population, has long been an opposition stronghold. Like Istanbul, it has small communities of Greeks and Jews (and previously Armenians) who have left their cultural mark on the city's lifestyle.
