Turkey is all set to go for “close contest” in local elections on Sunday, an eminent Turkish political analyst, Ihsan Aktas, said.
AK Party – Justice and Development Party – led by legendary Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan still is most popular among the participating political parties. However, the elections will see a nail biting contest, he said.
In an exclusive interview with Pakistan Today, Ihsan Aktas, who is president of GENAR – a political and research centre based in Istanbul working since 1999 – said that economy will be decisive factor in the upcoming election.
AK Party is jointly fighting local elections with MHP under “Cumhur Ittifaki” or “Peoples Alliance” while opposition CHP and IYI party has formed “Millet Ittifaki” or “Nation Alliance”. Besides, Saadet and HDP are also in the fray in the country’s 81 provinces. Elections to mayoral positions in Istanbul and Ankara are most sought after.
“Economy is a decisive [factor] in elections. AK Party received a 40% vote for political reasons, political commitment and services. This rate increased to 50% when the economy improved. In this election, AK Party is facing economic difficulties and opposition parties are using this situation well. It seems that the effect of the economy on these elections is more than expected,” he observed.
Aktas said that after Turkey shifted to presidential system, the political competition, went up to 50%. Therefore, he said, all political parties feel somewhat obliged to form alliances. “With the changing system, Peoples Alliance and Nation Alliance joined their forces and are acting together.”
Asked how the voter will behave on Sunday, Aktas said that President Erdoğan managed economy in the past well and he will be able to overcome these problems in future too. About reasons of rising unemployment rate, Aktas said that the government took specific efforts to manage it.
“When economy was good in Turkey; construction sector was its backbone. Now, industry-based employment has not improved. If industry-based employment is emphasized in the coming time, employment problems will decrease accordingly,” he explained.
Aktas views that politics in Turkey will radically change as the presidential system moves on.
“In presidential system, party candidates and leaders are more important than parties. In the coming time, individuals and leaders will gain more power rather than the parties. I believe this situation in the percentage of votes should worry the AK Party. However, AK Party is used to manage the country with 50% of the votes,” he remarked.
When asked whether European Union (EU) resolution closing negotiations on integration with Turkey without any result will impact Sunday elections, Ihsan Aktas said that when the AK Party was established in early 2000, “there was a threat of military tutelage”.
“AK Party overcame that situation by motivating the country to enter the European Union. In fact, it was obvious that Turkey would not become a full member of EU. However, it was a good opportunity to solve at least the problems in the process of democratization in the country and it finished the [threat of] military tutelage. On the other hand, it would be right to continue relations with Europe, for the continuation of the democratic acquisition and openness of policies,” he added.
Referring to failed coup of 2016 and mass detention of terrorist FETO members, Aktas said that the FETO military coup was an “extraordinary threat to Turkey as the terrorists tried to take over all the key points of bureaucracy and the government”.
“They [tried to] confiscate the fate of the country, like a spy network that was rooted in foreign countries. But the coup attempt exposed them. However, the anti-government actions of the coup plotters still continue in the country and internationally,” he observed.
Commenting over the unprecedented bond between Pakistan and Turkey, Aktas said both nations are brotherly and there is no other country on earth which love each other so much.
“The attitude of Pakistan against FETÖ and its recognition as a terrorist organization was welcomed with great sympathy by the Turkish people. Although members of the terrorist FETÖ fight against the front line [of Turkey] up to this time. In current times, they pretend to be AK Party sympathizers saying despite being AK Party sympathizers, they will not vote for AK Party. It is a ploy to convince people not to vote. FETÖ, a traitor organization, has always succeeded in harming the AK Party electorate,” he concluded.
