Livaneli recalls 30 years ago: I asked for support, they handed the cities over to Refah

Political parties continue to announce the candidates who will compete in the local elections to be held on March 31. Istanbul and Ankara are among the provinces where the results are most anticipated. So far in Istanbul, the AKP, CHP, IYI Party, Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi), and Victory Party (Zafer Partisi) have announced their candidates. The Homeland Party (Memleket Partisi), DEVA Party, and New Welfare Party (Yeniden Refah Partisi) are also expected to field candidates. 

The fact that opposition parties are fielding many candidates has brought to mind the local elections held in 1994. In those elections, which Tayyip Erdoğan won successfully, the SHP candidate was Zülfü Livaneli, the DSP candidate was Necdet Özkan, and the candidate for the re-established CHP was Ertuğrul Günay. In the election where Erdoğan was not considered among the favorites, Zülfü Livaneli received 20.30 percent of the vote, the DYP candidate Bedrettin Dalan received 15.45 percent, and Necati Özkan received 12.38 percent. The splitting of the votes worked in Erdoğan's favor, and he was elected mayor by receiving 25.19 percent of the votes.

Zülfü Livaneli, one of the actors of those years, made a statement on his social media account. Stating that he had spoken with Ecevit and Baykal at the time to ask for their support, Livaneli wrote the following:

"30 years have passed, but the '94 elections are still being talked about. And with lies and misinformation at that. The SHP, founded by Erdal İnönü, had fallen to 8 percent after the İSKİ scandal. There was pressure for months for me to become a candidate; requests and friendships were brought into play. When I reluctantly accepted the candidacy, I made it a condition to be a 'joint candidate.' I called Ecevit and Baykal. I asked for their support. But they fought with ambition even though they had no chance of winning. It was the same in Ankara. For 25 years, they acted this way in every election and handed the cities over to Refah. Çiller, Mesut Yılmaz, Erbakan, the Susurluk figures, and the press all came against me. They tried to destroy me. I had a heart spasm and ended up in the hospital. They also brutally stole our votes in the election. It wasn't worth it."

News Source: 12punto