WITH VOTES SLIPPING, ERDOĞAN TURNS TO PENSIONERS EARLY
Losing votes over the fund scandal and shaken almost daily as new figures with party links are exposed, the AKP government launched its election campaign early.
Analysis
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Losing votes over the fund scandal and shaken almost daily as new figures with party links are exposed, the AKP government launched its election campaign early.
An Istanbul court ordered the continued detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, campaign director Necati Özkan, journalist Merdan Yanardağ, and businessperson Hüseyin Gün during the latest hearing in their political espionage trial.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on Oct. 1 condemning what it called a coordinated campaign against LGBTQ+ people and rights defenders in Turkey.
In football, the transfer window closed Sept. 4. But in politics, it remains wide open as the AKP presses on with a campaign of seduction and coercion unprecedented in Turkish political history.
Turkey has launched its campaign to lead the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) after nominating former Agriculture Minister Mehmet Mehdi Eker for the position of Director-General.
The brief respite after a court rejected a bid to unseat main opposition CHP Chair Özgür Özel and annul the party’s 2023 congress has now given way to a widening espionage probe. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and his campaign director Necati Özkan were rearrested on espionage charges, while a trustee was appointed to TELE1 television channel and its editor-in-chief, Merdan Yanardağ, was also taken into custody on Oct. 24.
The AKP has begun laying the groundwork for the 2028 presidential and parliamentary elections, with plans to formally launch its campaign on Aug. 14 — the 25th anniversary of the party’s foundation.
The possibility of a court ruling that might replace the CHP administration continues to overshadow the party’s campaign efforts to force the government into early elections.
A new political dispute has erupted after AKP’s Istanbul branch began running ads on billboards criticizing the Istanbul Municipality, giving the impression that an election campaign is already underway.
Since Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s detention on March 19, the CHP has held 40 rallies despite no upcoming elections, yet failed to shift the political agenda. The party opened İmamoğlu’s first campaign office in its Çankaya stronghold in Ankara, only to see its provincial chair dismissed days later. Though operations against Istanbul Municipality slowed, confessions from businessperson Aziz İhsan Aktaş continue to dominate headlines. A fresh wave of arrests targeted subsidiaries ISFALT and IETT, as well as tender officials.