Rally around the election banners

Seven days ahead of local elections, political parties finished their big showdown in Istanbul yesterday despite assessments from experts that last-minute rallies do not seriously impact voter behavior.

With one-sixth of the voters in Turkey, Istanbul hosted five different rallies yesterday. Following a row among political parties over rally locations, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, acquired the advantage of holding its meeting in Kazlıçeşme, which, although relatively away from the city centers, has a much bigger area compared to Şişli’s Çağlayan, where opposition parties, People’s Republican Party, or CHP, and the Felicity Party, or SP, held their gatherings. Although at the city center, Çağlayan is smaller compared to Kazlıçeşme, where the ruling AKP has succeeded to gather thousands despite cold and rainy weather.

Having not held a rally in Istanbul for a long time, the CHP seemed quite content with the crowd it gathered, despite physical limitations at Çağlayan. But if the number of rally participants and organizational skills are an indicator, it was clear that the AKP, with its mayor Kadir Topbaş, is the front runner in Istanbul.

Enthusiasm for CHP in Çağlayan was perceived as a comeback for the main opposition party in a city regarded as a stronghold for the ruling party.

Journalists and political scientists said CHP’s mayoral candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has successfully motivated social democrat voters who had distanced themselves from the CHP because of their resentment of Deniz Baykal’s policies. Many thought it was a mistake on the part of Baykal who spoke at the meeting in Çağlayan not to let Kılıçdaroğlu address the crowd.

Both Erdoğan and Baykal addressed their crowds, their speech mainly focused on attacking each other. Baykal went on to İzmir, a stronghold of the CHP, while Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, held a rally in Adana, where due to the city’s current mayor Aytaç Durak, it is likely to win the elections.

An interesting aspect of yesterday’s rallies was that the CHP rally was followed by SP’s rally and the Grand Union Party, or BBP, at the same location. Democrat Party also held its rally in Istanbul’s Gaziosmanpaşa.

The AKP’s demonstration was well organized. Twenty cranes holding party flags, speakers and giant screens for people to watch the scene surrounded the demonstration area. Residents from far-away neighborhoods were carried to Kazlıçeşme by private buses for free, while the AKP’s Küçükçekmece district organization had a train dedicated to carry people to Kazlıçeşme. The commuter train from Sirkeci to Kazlıçeşme was free as well.

Yellow raincoats were handed out to party supporters in the field and water was also distributed. All the people in the demonstration area had one color of the party, either a blue, white, or yellow flag or a yellow raincoat. A yellow helicopter hovered over the field during the demonstration. A tent was put up as well for keeping children who were separated from their families.

Fishermen boats on the sea opposite to the Kazlıçeşme Square decorated their boats with AKP flags as well. The banners hanging on their boats read, "The Prime Minister of Turkey is the father of fishermen."

Meanwhile, three opposition parties had to hold their rallies in city center at Çağlayan Square, which is physically smaller compared to Kazlıçeşme. CHP was the first opposition party of the day to have its meeting in Çağlayan where many excited CHP supporters gathered from the early hours. The meeting square was incapable of including all the CHP supporters as some people had to listen to the speeches from the area at the back of the stage.

The crowd was so pressed that some people fainted. Deniz Baykal had to stop his speech five times to call health officers to the square for those who fainted. Around 50 people fainted or worse at only CHP’s rally, said an ambulance officer who declined to give his name saying, "CHP supporters came very early and without having a breakfast so that they got worse in the crowd."

Despite the physical handicaps at Çağlayan square, having three different rallies in the same place and day was in the agenda of Baykal.

"They said there can’t be two rallies in the same place when we wanted to have a rally in Kazlıçeşme. But now in Çağlayan we are having three rallies at the same time," said Baykal.

Entering the stage, Kılıçdaroğlu got more applause then Baykal. Levent Aktaş, 26 and unemployed, said he would vote for Kılıçdaroğlu only if he is against AKP. Ayten Çelik said she came from Bahçelievler to the meeting and that she could not sleep the night before because she was so excited. She said she would vote for CHP because they are the opposite of AKP.

CHP left the stage later then expected which made the next rally of Felicity Party, or SP, to start later then expected. Çağlayan square was immediately cleaned by the supporters of SP minutes before their rally started. Zekeriya Aydın, supporter of SP, criticized the CHP supporters to leave the square so dirty. "CHP supporters threw their party’s flag after they left. This is disrespect to us and to their party," he said. SP supporters also believed that it was AKP’s plan to bring three parties to the same small square. "This is the AKP’s plan that done against us," said Ekrem Deniz. Women and men supporters of SP watched their rally from separate places in Çağlayan. Necmettin Erbakan, former head of the Refah Party that is succeeded by SP, came to the meeting arena because he was pardoned by the president after being charged in a corruption case.

3 PKK members detained

Meanwhile Turkish police arrested three members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in Istanbul in the midst of preparations for a sensational attack on the city, the governor said Saturday.

The terrorists, who had earlier been involved in armed attacks on behalf of the PKK, were detained along with a cache of guns, hand grenades, explosives and documentation of the organization’s operations staged in the Esenyurt and Üsküdar neighborhoods, Muammer Güler said.

For the love of Erdoğan

A full-size framed poster of the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and a long poem titled as "Man like a real man" written over the poster was over the pavement at the security point. The poem was mainly about the move of Erdoğan at the Davos forum in January against Israeli President Simon Peres and the Israel’s operation in Palestine. "I was planning to present this to him [Erdoğan], but they did not let me in with that, I guess because of the glass over the poster," said 26-year-old Mehmet Sami Atız, who owns the poster. "I follow him since my school ages."

Atız was not the only one at Kazlıçeşme who loves Erdoğan that much. Three generations can be seen in the field that families together with their months old babies and also with their elders were there to support the party and see Erdoğan.

Services and honesty, were two key words that those who talked to Hürriyet Daily News and the Economic Review said for their cause to prefer AKP. "The one who would not vote for the AKP after seeing the Metrobus is an ingrate," said Leyla Çiğdem, who came to from Istanbul’s Beylikdüzü district.

"Their performance is good," said Tutku Çakır, 17 who was wearing a t-shirt on which "One minute" was written, referring to Erdoğan’s move to interrupt the moderator at Davos Forum to ask for voice. "I do not believe in the [allegations] of corruption. Can this man [Erdoğan] be corrupt?" an old man said.