Comment: Erdogan is still firmly in the saddle, but his horse went lame

Erdogan has led the election campaign, as if it were his own office. The more bitter the result for its ACP. The Opposition benefited from alliances. Erdogan could be dangerous.

A comment by Christian Buttkereit, ARD-Studio Istanbul

Erdogan is still firmly in the saddle, but his horse went lame. So, it could be the result of these municipal elections. The big setback has failed to materialize, but the results of the election for state President Erdogan and his AKP party bitter. Because Ankara and Antalya, the second largest and the fourth largest city in Turkey, went to the Opposition, more accurately, the Republican people's party CHP. You on the other hand has lost none of its strongholds and at the same time, to conquer for decades in Istanbul.

This is amazing, if you think of the effort, the AKP and above all President Erdogan in the election campaign. Erdogan occurred up to eight Times a day at campaign events. He fought, as if it were his own office, with the support of the media, which he had brought in the past few years on line. The state television TRT gave Erdogan and the AKP candidate about ten Times as much transmission time as the Opposition. In Ankara, Erdogan was operating a smear campaign against the CHP candidate. Nevertheless, the CHP was able to score points in Ankara and Antalya.

Successful alliances

This has less to do with the fact that the party would provide political Alternatives, rather than with a clever strategy. For the first time in municipal elections, alliances were forged. Thus, the three major opposition divisions of CHP, the pro-Kurdish HDP and the national-conservative IYI-party to support the most promising candidates and to abandon their own candidate. agreed This brought the CHP, especially successes in the West, and the HDP in the predominantly Kurdish-populated areas.

These covenants were received in the right-hand bearing is also Erdogan's AKP and the right-nationalist MHP. Otherwise it would not have passed in more cities for a victory of the AKP candidate. The price of this was that the government party, the AKP, was not begun in some cities in the first place with a candidate of its own. Also can't like Erdogan, because of the expiration of its Power is visible. The MHP is now mayor, where you played before, not a big role.

With these Successes, the MHP is the nationalist Trend in Turkey, which was already observed in the last parliamentary elections, yet once more clearly visible. Erdogan will have to take on the nationalists in the future more consideration. However, he is expected to have a breather. Because even before all the results were officially fixed, he said, the next elections will be in June 2023.

Ankara under forced administration?

The question is how Erdogan handles now with the setback in Ankara. In the election campaign, he had threatened to put the capital in the event of an electoral victory of the Opposition under forced administration. Just as he had done with dozens of cities, in which the HDP since the last local elections, the mayor. He should do that, need it actually, in four years, no elections, because democracy in Turkey would be consigned to history.