9-candidate election in Istanbul! Who will win?

NEWS CENTER

With only a few days left until the local elections, the Istanbul candidates for 8 parties and 1 independent candidate have been determined.

The special importance placed on Istanbul by President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and his signaling of Istanbul for the local elections immediately after the May 28 elections, once again highlighted the significance of these elections.

So, which party nominated whom in Istanbul? How did the candidacy processes take place? Here is Istanbul in the March 31 elections with all the details...

EKREM İMAMOĞLU

Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was serving as the Mayor of Beylikdüzü before the 2019 local elections, won the election against the last Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım with a margin of 21,462 votes. After the YSK annulled the elections, İmamoğlu increased the margin to 806,014 votes in the new election held on June 23.

Thus, İmamoğlu ended the 25-year rule of right-wing parties that began with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the Welfare Party in 1994, continued with Ali Müfit Gürtuna of the Virtue Party in 1999, and persisted under the AKP government after 2002.

IMM Mayor İmamoğlu was re-nominated in Istanbul by CHP Chairman Özgür Özel.

Following the end of the 6-party alliance in the May 14-28 elections, the CHP candidate will compete in the elections without the support of any other party.

MURAT KURUM

Murat Kurum, who served as the Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change between 2019 and 2023, was announced as the Istanbul candidate by President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on January 7.

The AKP, which wants to win Istanbul back after 5 years, is also supported by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), one of the partners of the People's Alliance.

AZMİ KARAMAHMUTOĞLU

Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ announced Azmi Karamahmutoğlu as his party's Istanbul candidate on January 13.

Karamahmutoğlu is also the last Chairman of the Idealist Hearths (Ülkü Ocakları) appointed by MHP Founding Chairman Alparslan Türkeş while he was alive.

BİROL AYDIN

The Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi) chose Istanbul Deputy Birol Aydın as its IMM candidate on January 28. Aydın was one of the 20 deputies who moved from the CHP lists to the Felicity Party.

BUĞRA KAVUNCU

İYİ Party Chairwoman Meral Akşener had announced that they would enter the local elections "freely and independently" following the collapse of the Table of Six.

While there was long-standing curiosity about who would be nominated in Istanbul, Akşener made a surprise decision at her party's group meeting on January 24 and nominated Buğra Kavuncu.

During his time as Istanbul Provincial Chairman, Kavuncu had been in close cooperation with IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and former CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairwoman Canan Kaftancıoğlu during the 2019 local elections.

MERAL DANIŞ BEŞTAŞ AND MURAT ÇEPNİ

Başak Demirtaş, the wife of the imprisoned former HDP Co-Chairman Selahattin Demirtaş, had come to the agenda with her potential IMM candidacy, but later withdrew from the race with a statement she made.

The DEM Party announced that their Istanbul candidates are Meral Danış Beştaş and Murat Çepni.

MEHMET ALTINÖZ

The New Welfare Party (YRP), which was under the umbrella of the People's Alliance in the May 14-28 elections, decided to field its own candidates in 3 metropolitan cities in the local elections.

YRP leader Fatih Erbakan, who also withdrew in favor of Erdoğan in the presidential elections, cited the lack of results from 5 meetings held with the AKP, as well as the AKP's Gaza policy and economic reasons, as the justification for entering the elections alone.

In a statement made today, Erbakan announced Mehmet Altınöz as his party's Istanbul candidate. Altınöz also serves as the Deputy Chairman of the YRP.

OTHER CANDIDATES

The Patriotic Party (Vatan Partisi) nominated İbrahim Okan Özkan as its IMM candidate.

Additionally, Taylan Yıldız, who served as a deputy chairman during the establishment of the İYİ Party, also became a candidate from Istanbul as an independent. Yıldız was known as the "internet guy" due to the campaign he started in 2020 to enable internet access in Istanbul subways. Yıldız resigned from the İYİ Party on June 21, 2023.

WHO WILL BE THE HOMELAND PARTY AND TİP CANDIDATES?

No alliance emerged from the meetings between Homeland Party (Memleket Partisi) Chairman Muharrem İnce and CHP leader Özgür Özel, and İnce, criticizing the CHP, said that his party would field candidates and that 3 candidates were standing out.

While the Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) has not yet announced its candidate in Istanbul, it is not yet known whether the party will support the DEM Party candidate or the CHP candidate and IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

News Source: 12punto