Coronavirus: Erdogan strives to undermine the efforts of opposition mayors

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In Turkey, the Covid-19 epidemic sees President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attacking those who do not support him by all means. It seeks in particular to undermine the efforts of opposition mayors to help the most disadvantaged. The reason: he considers these local elected representatives as a political threat.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer

This is one of the signs that Recep Tayyip Erdogan has still not digested the loss of Istanbul and Ankara to the municipal elections in spring 2019. For the past year, the president has done everything to deprive these municipalities of funding, and to block initiatives that could increase the popularity of opposition mayors.

In March, the government banned calls for donations launched by these town halls for families impoverished by the epidemic of new coronavirus, accusing them of wanting to create a "state within the state". Shortly thereafter, Tayyip Erdogan launched a similar campaign himself.

Among the executives of the main opposition party, the Social Democratic CHP, there is no doubt that the Head of State considers these local elected representatives as rivals. But that's not all. “  Before the elections, the propaganda of the power consisted in saying that if the CHP prevailed in big cities like Istanbul and Ankara, it would immediately cut aid for the poorest. The government is afraid that this lie will come to light in the light of the epidemic. This is the reason why he is trying to block all the aid provided by these town halls,  ”said Baris Yarkadas, former deputy of the CHP in Istanbul.

The mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, is particularly targeted. The opponent revealed this week that he was the subject of 27 investigations by the Interior Ministry. These relate to the period 2014-2019 when he headed the town hall of a district of Istanbul.

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• Turkey
• Recep Tayyip Erdogan
• Coronavirus