AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at his party's rally in Istanbul yesterday (March 24).
Announcing the number of participants at the rally held at Atatürk Airport, Erdoğan expressed his frustration with the words, "There are currently 650 thousand people in front of me. We are used to 1.5 million in this square. Today, however, there are 650 thousand people... But we are not stopping."
"HE SEES A SERIOUS RISK AT THE BALLOT BOX IN ISTANBUL"
Nagehan Alçı, one of the debated figures in the media world, touched upon Erdoğan's Istanbul rally.
Commenting on Erdoğan's remarks, Alçı stated, "He sees a serious risk at the ballot box in Istanbul," and added, "President Erdoğan will push very hard for Istanbul this week."
Evaluating the AKP-YRP-CHP dynamics with less than a week left until the election, Alçı used the following expressions:
"He attacked Ekrem İmamoğlu and the current administration very harshly, calling it 'unintelligent municipalism' and making references to 'trash-pits-mud' again, but what caught my attention more than that were his criticisms directed at the New Welfare Party (YRP). He did not mention the party name again, but this time, before his speech, he pinned an AK Party badge on Suat Pamukçu, one of the important names of the party who recently left the YRP with harsh statements.
To an outside observer, this might not seem very important, but Pamukçu was one of the leading figures who enabled the bridge between the YRP and the AK Party; we can say he was the architect of the party's participation in the People's Alliance and its support for Erdoğan in the 2023 elections.
The President knows he cannot attract the CHP voter. The YRP base, however, is a brother base, which is why he is pursuing a strategy of 'Saadet-izing' Fatih Erbakan's party by positioning it next to the CHP. I think this could be effective, especially in metropolitan cities. President Erdoğan will push very hard for Istanbul this week."
News Source: 12punto
