The Erdoğan-Imamoglu feud has begun ahead of the municipal elections in Turkey, as Manolis Kostidis broadcasts from Istanbul.

“Electing Imamoglu was a mistake,” Erdogan said, “the people responded with 806,000 votes. This is Erdogan’s logic for democracy,” Imamoglu replied.

“I don’t know how, but some mistake was made, and this person assumed these duties, and Istanbul was again filled with garbage, potholes and mud,” said the Turkish president.

“This is Erdogan’s understanding of democracy. When he wins, it’s democracy and the popular will, when someone else wins, then it’s ‘wrong’,” replied the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglou.

Erdogan: “Now before the March 31 elections, dirty alliances are being formed in Istanbul and Mersin and we know this.”

Imamoglu: “They canceled the elections here. But as the people resisted against the coup plotters, so with a difference of 806,000 votes they protected the democracy”.

Erdogan: “We have started the project of building a larger aircraft carrier”

“Turkish drones protect the airspace of 34 countries”

Erdogan: “Turkey’s defense industry is writing a global saga. In the field of drones and armed drones we are one of the 3 countries in the world. Today the airwaves of 34 countries are protected by Turkish drones.

This feat is ours, the 85 million citizens. As a people we believed it and worked, we did not flinch and we succeeded. This is just the beginning. In the coming years we will build more, more modern, more developed, more powerful. We will now build a larger aircraft carrier than what we have. Right now our Navy is already working. Soon we will build a superior class aircraft carrier. When we say we’re going to do something, then we do it…and we’ll do it.”

Turkish analyst: “Turkey begs to get F-16s”

“We got kicked out of the F-35 and now we’re talking about the first flight of the KAAN”

Denise Zeyrek, journalist of SOZCU newspaper: If all goes well, KAAN will be delivered to the Turkish Air Force around 2030-2032 But this first test flight aircraft will be taken from city to city and create an atmosphere that Kaan is already protecting our airwaves. But behind the scenes they are haggling and backing down to get the F-16s and modernize them.

They give 23 billion dollars for F-16s, we buy them with our own money but we beg to get them. I tell you they are begging to get them. They brought it to us with the F-35s as they excluded us from the program because we chose the S-400s from Russia and 1.5 billion dollars go aside there. The S-400s were also rendered useless and now you are trying to win the elections with Kaan.”