The Municipal Elections in Istanbul a Few Days Away From Revealing the Winner
The history of Turkish municipal elections dates back more than 130 years, as the elections first occurred in 1877. Istanbul municipal elections are considered among the most important elections, taking place every five years, given that Istanbul is one of the largest and most significant municipalities in Turkey. With the approaching date of the elections, how does the current scene appear? How intense is the conflict between the ruling party and the opposition party to win the elections?
Candidates for the Istanbul municipal elections
The number of competitors for the presidency of the Greater Istanbul Municipality in the elections to be held on March 31 has reached 49 people, including 22 party candidates and 27 independent candidates, in the race for the position that brought Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to power for more than two decades.
Despite the large number of candidates, the real competition is limited to two people: Murat Kurum, the candidate for the Justice and Development Party, and Ekrem İmamoğlu, the candidate for the Republican People’s Party and the current mayor since 2019.
The importance of the Istanbul municipal elections
The city of Istanbul is considered the human and economic reservoir of Turkey and the state in which many major projects are concentrated, and municipal elections in Turkey are no less important than presidential and parliamentary elections because of the wide powers that municipalities enjoy that directly affect people’s lives in health, education, transportation, roads, parks, cleanliness, and other local governance matters. Municipalities in Turkey have huge budgets, part of which they get from the state and the other part from fees and taxes.
Therefore, the Turkish people pay special attention to the Istanbul municipal elections, and it is worth noting that 18% of the total registered voters are in Istanbul, meaning that 1 out of every 5 voters resides in this city.
Erdoğan announces his party’s candidate for the Istanbul mayoral elections
On January 7, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the candidate of his ruling party “the Justice and Development Party” for the greater Istanbul municipal elections, in addition to the names of 25 other candidates, as he also revealed the names of 11 candidates for the mayorship of the following major cities: Istanbul, Aydın, Balıkesir, Bursa, Denizli, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Kocaeli, Muğla, Ordu and Samsun
Who is Murat Kurum, the ruling party’s candidate for mayor of Istanbul?!
Murat Mehmet Kurum was born on May 7th, 1976, in the “Çankaya” district of Ankara. He began his professional career in civil engineering in 1999 and worked for several years in the construction field in various private sector institutions across Turkey.
In 2005, he joined the “Housing Development Administration” foundation Toki and worked as an expert in its executive department in Ankara. In 2006, he became the director of its executive branch in Ankara, and in 2006, he became the director of the organization’s executive branch in the European part of Istanbul. During his work period, he assumed responsibility for more than 100 Construction sites in Istanbul and also managed work in more than 25 locations in other states
In 2009, he assumed the position of General Manager of Emlak Konut Construction Company and a member of its Board of Directors. After taking over the management of the company, he was able to complete hundreds of thousands of homes, after the total number of homes completed by the company was only 25,000 homes.
In 2018, he assumed the position of Minister of Environment and Urban Planning, which was an important turning point in his political history, as he was able to create 365,000 housing units, and through the Toki Foundation, he organized mass housing campaigns to help low-income citizens own homes.
Murat Kurum’s achievements during the natural disasters that struck Turkey
After the earthquake in February 2023, which struck several Turkish provinces, causing loss of life and widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure, Kurum stayed in the affected area for nearly two months. Under his supervision, approximately 180,000 temporary homes were constructed in collaboration with the TOKI Foundation and Emlak Konut company
Kurum worked on strengthening buildings and ensuring the safety of tens of thousands of homes against earthquake and natural disaster risks, especially in Istanbul, which is expected to face a major earthquake according to forecasts, he led the ‘Half of It is on Us’ campaign announced by President Erdoğan, which calls for an urban transformation project in Istanbul, with the government covering half the cost of rebuilding old buildings
Kurum also paid attention to other provinces, conducting about 450 field visits to 81 cities
In terms of environmental preservation, he was active in the ‘Zero Waste’ project under the sponsorship of the First Lady, Emine Erdoğan, as he also worked on increasing green spaces in cities and establishing public parks, starting the construction of 484 public parks, with 39 of them in Istanbul alone
Responsibilities and positions
Murat Kurum held numerous positions and responsibilities throughout his professional and political career, including:
- Executive Branch Manager at the “Housing Development Administration” TOKI , in the European Istanbul Branch between 2006 and 2009
- General Manager of “Emlak Konut” company between 2009 and 2018
- Minister of “Environment, Urban Planning, and Climate Change” between 2018 and 2023
- Member of the Turkish Parliament for the Justice and Development Party in the 28th term in 2023
Who is Ekrem İmamoğlu, the opposition candidate for mayor of Istanbul?
Ekrem İmamoğlu was born on June 3rd, 1971, in the village of Cevizli in the Akçaabat district of Trabzon province in eastern Turkey, to a merchant father and a farmer mother.
He attended the Faculty of Communications at Girne American University, and in 1990 he transferred to the Faculty of Business Administration at Istanbul University, where he graduated.
He completed his master’s degree at Istanbul University in the Department of Human Resources and Management in 1995. However, he did not continue his higher education, and he completed it after many years, benefiting from student amnesty after becoming the mayor of Beylikdüzü in Istanbul.
Political activity
İmamoğlu was appointed as the head of the Beylikdüzü district in the Republican People’s Party in 2009, where he restructured the party’s regional council. After a short period, he became the first regional head to be elected by the Republican People’s Party regional conference.
İmamoğlu was re-elected as the head of the Beylikdüzü district in the second conference of the Republican People’s Party in 2012, before resigning on July 15, 2013, from this position in preparation for participating in the local elections the following year.
He then assumed the position of mayor of Istanbul in 2019 after fierce competition with “Binali Yıldırım” the candidate of the Justice and Development Party. However, his tenure in this position was controversial, with widespread debate between supporters and opponents, especially given the numerous incidents that occurred in the city, as he was often out of the city during these times.
Lawsuit for insulting public employees
In 2019, members of the Supreme Election Board, led by “Sadi Güven” filed a lawsuit against him after he referred to them as “fools” in a press statement on November 4th. According to the lawsuit, “the mayor of Istanbul publicly insulted public officials for performing their duties”.
The court ruled on December 14, 2022, sentencing İmamoğlu to two years, seven months, and fifteen days in prison, as well as a ban from political activity, in accordance with Article 35 of the Turkish Penal Code.
What are the duties and powers of the mayor of Istanbul?
The mayor has many responsibilities as the administrative head of the municipality. Here are some of these tasks:
- General supervision of the municipality.
- Directing and managing municipal organization.
- Protecting the rights and interests of the municipality.
- Preparing budget proposals.
- Ensuring the collection of dues and revenues.
- Contracting on behalf of the municipality.
- Accepting donations and providing necessary savings.
- Representing the municipality.
- Appointing municipal employees.
- Delegating authorities.
- Establishing service centers.
- Providing public transportation services within the urban area.
- Ensuring the protection of the environment, agricultural areas, water complexes, according to the principle of sustainable development and afforestation.
- Implementing water and sanitation services, and constructing and operating dams and other necessary facilities.
- Constructing health, education, and cultural buildings and facilities, and maintaining and repairing buildings and facilities related to these services from public institutions and organizations, and providing necessary financial support.
- Building and operating social facilities, regional parks, zoos, animal shelters, libraries, museums, sports and entertainment centers, and other facilities that serve the municipality.
And so, assuming the position of mayor, especially for an important city like Istanbul, is not an easy matter. Therefore, the competition in the Istanbul municipal elections appears to be very fierce, as both the Justice and Development Party candidate, “Murat Kurum” and the opposition party candidate, “Ekrem İmamoğlu,” seek to win the mayorship of Istanbul, With just a few days left until the elections, who will emerge victorious as the mayor of Istanbul for the next five years?!
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