An Iranian perspective on Turkish local local elections, published in the reformist newspaper “Shargh” (East)
Fereydoun Majlessi, Shargh, 3 April 2024
In the municipal elections of Turkey, the traditionalists, who gained the majority due to the industrial development of Turkey and large-scale migrations from the countryside to the city and had taken the government from the secular bureaucracy of Atatürk, continued taking part in the social and cultural developments of the country by losing once again the majority in the main cities such as Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara.
Erdoğan will not simply give up power and leave the government, but the renewed victory of the secular civil majority in the big cities over the traditionalists shows that the dominance of the traditionalists with rural roots no longer has the support of the majority. This natural movement of civic development will continue in smaller communities as well. In Turkey, as in Iran, especially in the dimension of the younger generations, which are locked in the cultural cocoon of the village and tribe, has decreased a lot. It means the traditionalists in the city and the countryside who still adhere to the ideological traditions of the souvenirs of the previous villages about the preference of the government based on political religion are in retreat. Proponents of secular modernity include Turkish and non-Turkish believers who separate their beliefs from politics, and there are many of them.
The economic development of Turkey has been taking place at the same time as the economic decline of Iran, the latter being imposed by long-lasting sanctions. The Tukish economic rise was started and supported by Turgut Özal. Just like in monarchic Iran, millions of Turkish villagers with a purely religious identity were drawn to the most industrialized cities and became the majority. This party, inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood, of course, withcertain Atatürk’s modification, has previously won the Istanbul elections with the credit of this majority and has taken the government and the presidency. But the sweetness of tourism income has prevented some dry social behaviors from being imposed on the society. The signs of the change in this social situation were revealed when the people of Istanbul gathered against the construction of a large mosque in the large park near Taqsim Square. Even the prime minister at the time, Mr. Gul, supported their demand. But Erdogan intervened by launching a large demonstration by transferring hundreds of thousands of people by bus and boat from the peripheral loyalist areas to Istanbul. Erdogan removed Mr. Gul, against the opinion of the people of that city, built the mosque and stood up in front of the people.
Now the economic conditions are reflected in the votes of the citizens, who have also been worried about the emergence of a kind of extremist government in Turkey with the gradual development of traditionalist behavior. There was even an emergence of economic problems caused by the internal and external “Ottoman-oriented” policies of “Sultan Erdogan” and the military presence of Turkey in Libya, Syria and the Republic of Azerbaijan and the large military expenses related to ISIS in the attack on Mosul and the naval presence in Qatar, as well as the profiting of the rentier and corrupt economy by the powerful Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD) i.e. the Islamic businessmen’s society. These issues are similar to Iran’s and cause Turkey to stay away from the European community.
Although the decline in Turkish exports due to the plight of Syria, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, and to some extent Iraq, which have been Turkey’s traditional and important markets, contributed to Turkey’s economic crisis, the crisis is considered to be partly a product of the Islamists. For this reason, the large population of Alevis, Kurds, Christians, and the population of Iranian descent have not been among the voters for Erdogan’s Islamist party.
With all these words, the Turks proved here that they did not sacrifice the honor of trustworthiness in the people’s vote to stay in power.
Photo: Jubilating crowds in Istanbul after the end of the Turkish local elections 2024 (source: YouTube)
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