2024-03-24 13:32:51
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is calling today in Millet Bahcesi Park in Istanbul a pre-election rally on the occasion of the vote for local authorities, which will take place next Sunday. This is broadcast by BTA.
Turkish President and party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also participate in the rally under the title “We are in Istanbul again, only Istanbul”, who will deliver a speech, the chairman of the Istanbul regional organization of AKP Osman Nuri Kabaktepe announced in his profile on the social network Ex.
It is believed to be Erdogan’s biggest rally in Istanbul since the rally of the Republican Alliance coalition formed around the AKP in May last year, when Erdogan won the presidential election. That time, 1.7 million people joined the event.
On the eve of today’s party event, AKP candidate for mayor of Istanbul Murat Kurum said that “the rally will be the beginning that will lead our struggle to victory. Our message from Istanbul will be a message for all of Turkey, as we are ready for Istanbul to be ours, only Istanbul,” says TRT Haber.
The rally is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. local time (1 p.m. Bulgarian time).
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to announce good news at the event in Millet Bahcesi Park on the grounds of the former Ataturk Airport in the European part of Istanbul, AKP parliamentary group chairman Emin Akbaşoğlu said, quoted by Turkish media.
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has provided additional vehicles on the metro lines and buses on the route to the rally site considering that many people are expected to attend, NTV informed.
The Welsh Government and the Security Directorate have stepped up security at the site, as well as the regime to let people through.
About 12 million are the voters who are registered for the local vote on March 31 in the metropolis of Istanbul. There are 49 candidates who will compete for the position of mayor of the great municipality of Istanbul – 22 party and 27 independent candidates according to the confirmed list of the High Election Commission. The main race, which is expected to be highly contested and tense, with several unknowns according to preliminary forecasts, will be between Murat Kurum and the candidate of the main opposition People’s Republican Party, Ekrem Imamoglu, who is running for a second mayoral term.
The main goal of the ruling AKP, which is also laid out in its pre-election manifesto, is for its candidate Murat Kurum to win back Istanbul from the NRP.
On the eve of the rally, AKP candidate Murat Kurum pointed out that the demonstration “will be a rehearsal for the upcoming vote”. He invited Istanbulites to join the event.