One local vote, so many ways to win
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 18, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - As local elections near, different rules seem to be dominating different regions of the country. In Ankara and Istanbul, ignoring all rules seems to be the norm, while in İzmir parties want gentlemanly conduct.
The no-holds-barred election atmosphere escalating political wrangling in the country’s commercial and political capitals has fortunately not set a trend for the rest of the country.
Candidates in İzmir and Sivas are showing signs of political maturity by vowing to respect rules that will govern the March 29 local election campaign, while lists and counter-lists of corruption claims against candidates in Istanbul and Ankara set a different standard.
The most surprising move was ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, incumbent mayor for an Ankara district quitting the race. Seen as the up-and-coming star of the party, Turgut Altınok was disappointed not to be put forward as the candidate for Ankara mayor but there are claims that a sex-tape was the real reason for his withdrawal.
The daily corruption claims made by the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, against the AKP’s Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek and Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş very likely damaged their reputations but now the CHP’s Istanbul mayoral candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, also has a set of claims against him going back to the 1990s when he led the country’s Social Security Agency, or SSK.
Then there is the light amid the political chaos. Parties in İzmir on the Aegean coast have signed a gentlemen’s agreement to respect the people, the law and the environment while campaigning. When compared to politics in Istanbul and Ankara, which seem to lack any ground rules, acting gentlemanly doesn’t necessarily preclude tough campaign rhetoric but it is a breath of fresh air.
In Sivas, in central Anatolia, things have gone a bit further than in İzmir, with two top candidates, the AKP’s Sami Aydın and CHP’s Halil Mete Oltulu, finding nothing bad to say about each other. In response to Oltulu’s praise, Aydın said it didn’t matter who won as long as Sivas was the winner.
Candidates in İzmir and Sivas are showing signs of political maturity by vowing to respect rules that will govern the March 29 local election campaign, while lists and counter-lists of corruption claims against candidates in Istanbul and Ankara set a different standard.
The most surprising move was ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, incumbent mayor for an Ankara district quitting the race. Seen as the up-and-coming star of the party, Turgut Altınok was disappointed not to be put forward as the candidate for Ankara mayor but there are claims that a sex-tape was the real reason for his withdrawal.
The daily corruption claims made by the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, against the AKP’s Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek and Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş very likely damaged their reputations but now the CHP’s Istanbul mayoral candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, also has a set of claims against him going back to the 1990s when he led the country’s Social Security Agency, or SSK.
Then there is the light amid the political chaos. Parties in İzmir on the Aegean coast have signed a gentlemen’s agreement to respect the people, the law and the environment while campaigning. When compared to politics in Istanbul and Ankara, which seem to lack any ground rules, acting gentlemanly doesn’t necessarily preclude tough campaign rhetoric but it is a breath of fresh air.
In Sivas, in central Anatolia, things have gone a bit further than in İzmir, with two top candidates, the AKP’s Sami Aydın and CHP’s Halil Mete Oltulu, finding nothing bad to say about each other. In response to Oltulu’s praise, Aydın said it didn’t matter who won as long as Sivas was the winner.