Cheap vegetables and cries of terror: the major issue of local elections in Turkey

Birgul Karsongun lifts a five-pound onion bag from the cash register and counts his savings. At 10 Turkish lira (£ 1.37), the food bank products created by the government just before the March 31st municipal elections cost half of what it would pay at the supermarket.

It's a relief. The times are difficult for this 32-year-old mother, 32 years old. Inflation in Turkey has climbed to 20%. She is unemployed and, with her husband's salary, the family has little to gain.

The vegetable stands, funded by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party Justice Development Party (AKP), have proved extremely popular. According to employees, 3,000 to 4,000 customers will buy fresh products such as onions, green peppers, eggplants, spinach, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers and bags of dried chickpea each day. lenses in a shop located on Taksim Square in Istanbul.

Although many said that the stands are an election-season gadget that will only last about a month after the vote, they still enjoyed temporary help.

"Of course I'm grateful," Ms. Karsongun said. "Of course, I will vote for the AKP. Who else? "

What should be an unrestrained local election for district mayors and city councils in Turkey has become hotly contested in the aftermath of the country's economic crisis. On Sunday, although he is not a candidate in the presidential election, Erdogan spoke at a rally in Istanbul that brought together 1.6 million supporters, who were not able to run for president. committing to increase the number of tourists to help the city's economy.

In addition to the ordinary personalities and issues that drive local elections throughout Turkey, next Sunday's vote will also be considered a referendum on Erdogan, who badumed the new, heavily appointed position of president last year and could l & # 39; weaken.

The municipal contest will end an almost annual marathon of elections and referendums that lasted a decade and tired voters and business leaders eager for stability and destabilized by what looks like an uninterrupted political campaign , with posters and banners extolling parties and politicians, especially Mr. Erdogan. , plaster walls and billboards.

Like last year's elections, which Erdogan saved only by joining forces with the far-right National Movement Party (MHP), the president's opponents smell blood.

Economic discontent is growing. Polls show that the AKP party could very well lose control of the municipal government in the capital, Ankara, although its candidate retains an advantage in Istanbul. A survey showed that the economy was by far the main concern of voters: 63.6% of them said that their economic situation had deteriorated over the last year. The survey, conducted by the Social Democracy Foundation, revealed that 44% of AKP supporters were undecided.

"We can say that this election will be one in which AKP supporters have begun to have intense doubts," columnist Fatih Polat wrote in the leftist newspaper on Wednesday. Evrensel. "At least some people talk about" teaching them a lesson. "We'll see what impact the last 10 days before the elections will have on the vote and how much of that doubt will be reflected at the ballot box on March 31."

As the flag bearer of the AKP candidates, Mr. Erdogan's uncompromising campaign style has already put him in trouble at the international level. His use of filmed footage of the terrorist attack on mosques in New Zealand and excerpts from the alleged Australian author's manifesto as a means of raising supporters in provocative campaign speeches evoking medieval Christian crusades against Muslim lands caused a diplomatic failure.

But in addition to galvanizing its base with images of the Crusades and using state resources to convince cheap cucumber voters, Erdogan and his allies have used equally harsh measures against their opponents.

As in other elections, state media channels have a strong tendency to favor candidates for government. according to Birgun, the public broadcaster TRT granted five times more antenna time to the AKP than the opposition candidates during the first half of March.

Several pro-government newspapers claimed that the list of candidates for the Republican People's Party (CHP) in Izmir included 27 "terrorists" linked to the illegal Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK).

A series of highly publicized ribbon cuts, including the extension of a railway line covering the Asian and European sides of Istanbul, reinforce the image of the AKP in as a party that makes things happen.

Campaign irregularities have also been reported. In the south-east of the country, authorities arrested dozens of pro-Kurdish party members in the south-east of the country, preventing them from appearing in public, according to Kurdish media reports.

Opposition newspapers claimed that officials were going to "door to door" in government buildings to pressure municipal employees to vote for the AKP.

Analysts say heavy measures highlight the political vulnerabilities of the ruling party over the economy.

Erdogan blamed the outside powers for the economic slowdown, which resulted in uncontrollable borrowing, stimulated by the government's relaxed lending policy, which led to a decline in the value of the lira. A diplomatic clash with the United States last year also exacerbated investor concerns over Turkey.

The government also blamed unscrupulous speculators for high prices, raided food warehouses and fined distributors. Anecdotal stories suggest that flooding the market with cheap products has also led to lower prices in supermarkets, but many grocers are enraged by economic and political badaults and some have begun to post signs that they made very little profit.

For ordinary voters who have trouble getting out, cheap vegetables are a very good approach. Ismail Yucel, a 32-year-old security guard, explains that it was his first visit to one of the vegetable stalls. "The prices on the market are just too high," he says. "Economically, I'm in a difficult situation."

The opposition has also sought to use economic difficulties for political ends.

"Recent data indicates the severity of the economic crisis in the Turkish economy," said Selin Sayek Boke, chairman of the CHP in Izmir, on Wednesday. Birgun: "The situation requires urgent measures, which should be taken with different political and economic approaches."

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