Turkey is preparing for high-stakes local elections at the end of this month. Results of which will reshape the balance of party power at the level of local administrations.
They will also re-engineer domestic politics on a large scale. For Erdogan, his party regaining control of Istanbul is essential for his leadership to continue recovering from the damage it has suffered since losing the city and some other major cities in 2019. The debate over early general elections began to be raised on both fronts by the ruling party and the opposition Republican People's Party.