Turkish local elections: Political test for Erdogan with Imamoglu and the New Welfare Party
The Justice and Development Party had conducted extensive advertising on various networks and city levels for their major gathering on the fifth of Farvardin in Istanbul. However, the night before the event, due to the anticipation of a low turnout, the venue was downsized with smaller podiums.
This action was public, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey expressed his dissatisfaction in his speech at the event, stating that in the past, over a million people used to gather in this square, whereas today only 650,000 have shown up.
According to the President of Turkey, their rival in these elections is the Republican People’s Party and the current mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu.