Municipal elections in Turkey: The polls closed – What the first evidence shows

On the 5th afternoon of Sunday (31/3/24) the last polls in , for . According to the first unofficial figures, for the municipal elections in Turkey, the turnout is low… Analysts estimate that the abstention in Turkey’s municipal elections is due to Ramadan, but also to the fact that… there were no political tensions. “Now is the time to protect polls and votes,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote among others, after the polls closed. Kıymetli yol ve dava arkadaşlarım… Saat 16.00 itibarıyla tüm yurtta oy verme işlemi sona erdi. Şimdi sandıklara, oylara sahip çıkma vakti. Son oy Sayılana v sonuçlar kesinleşinceye kadar tüm kardeşlerimden görevli olduklarısandıkların başından ayrılmamasını, milletin… — Recep Tayip Erdoğan (@RTERdogan) Earlier, the two main candidates for the metropolitan municipality of Istanbul the current mayor exercised their electoral right. Erem Imamoglu voted in the Beiliktnuzu region, where he was mayor before being elected in 2019 head of the municipality of Istanbul. After exercising his electoral right Erem Imamoglu appeared moved, saying: “Today is an emotional day for me, because it is the moment of farewell and reconciliation for the five years of work. I hope that our people will give me this feeling of reconciliation.” Earlier, Murat Kurum’s opponent had voted, who after exercising his electoral right stated that today the sun rises in Istanbul. If Kurum Erdoğan wins he gains political displacement to steel even more his power, perhaps with Constitutional change. If he loses for the first time a strong opponent from the opposition side, if, of course, the internal contentions of the People’s Republican Party of Erem Imamoglu allow it. President Erdogan has personally borne the burden of the campaign. Only in the last 48 hours he organized six election rallies, all in Istanbul.