Türkiye: Turgut Altinok, Erdogan's candidate for the municipal elections in Ankara

2024-01-18T17:55:18.335Z

Highlights: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan inducted his candidate for the capital, Ankara, on Thursday. Turgut Altinok, currently district mayor under the colors of the presidential party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) He will have the difficult mission of reconquering the Turkish capital, which passed into the hands of the opposition in the last elections. In the ranks of the AKP and its ultranationalist ally, the MHP, this 62-year-old man is seen as one of the most likely to beat Mansur Yavas.

Two and a half months before the municipal elections in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan inducted his candidate for the capital, Ankara, on Thursday January 18. Turgut Altinok, currently district mayor…

Türkiye: Turgut Altinok, Erdogan's candidate for the municipal elections in Ankara

Two and a half months before the municipal elections in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan inducted his candidate for the capital, Ankara, on Thursday January 18.

Turgut Altinok, currently district mayor under the colors of the presidential party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), will have the difficult mission of reconquering the Turkish capital, which passed into the hands of the opposition in the last elections.

Turkish President and head of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (d), and the party's candidate for Ankara, Turgut Altinok, in Ankara, Thursday, January 18, 2024. AP - Yavuz Ozden

By: RFI Follow

With our correspondent in Istanbul,

Anne Andlauer

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan makes no secret of it: his priority for the March 31 municipal elections is to recover the two largest Turkish cities, Istanbul and Ankara, conquered by the opposition in the 2019 elections after 25 years of AKP domination .

The name of its candidates was therefore eagerly awaited.

The choice of Turgut Altinok for Ankara is not a surprise.

In the ranks of the presidential party and its ultranationalist ally, the MHP, this 62-year-old man is seen as one of the most likely to beat Mansur Yavas, current mayor of the capital.

Turgut Altinok, who has headed the Keçiören district, one of the most populous, for 30 years, has something in common with his rival in having formerly campaigned in the ranks of the MHP.

The candidate of power will not have an easy task: in one mandate at the head of Ankara, Mansur Yavas has had time to prove himself and establish his popularity, which also extends throughout Turkey .

But Tayyip Erdogan has a reason to hope:

the opposition alliance

which brought victory to the 2019 municipal elections did not survive the defeat in last year's presidential election.

In Ankara as in Istanbul, there should therefore be several opposition candidates facing the government candidate.

Read also Municipalities in Türkiye: Erdogan tasks a former minister with reconquering Istanbul

Türkiye: Turgut Altinok, Erdogan's candidate for the municipal elections in Ankara

Türkiye: Turgut Altinok, Erdogan's candidate for the municipal elections in Ankara

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