Imamoglu, the fragmented opposition and the battle of the headscarf

By Antonis Anzoletou

The first reading of the prison sentence imposed on Ekrem Imamoglu spoke of “heroization” of the mayor of Istanbul and of a hasty move by Tayyip Erdogan in order to avenge the man who “humiliated” him in his home. He had defeated his chosen one, Binali Yildirim, in the local government elections in 2019. The annulment of the elections and the new victory of Imamoglu widened the gap between the two even more.

Political things in Turkey however are quite complicated. Mainly for him Ekrem Imamoglou. In this period, the mayor of Istanbul is “building” a new profile, however, he has to overcome many obstacles until he gets to where he wants to be. He is a member of the main opposition party (CHP) of Kemal Kilicdaroglu who has made it clear that he wishes to run for president in the next elections. Therefore he does not have the anointing he desires. While even the scenario of collecting signatures, which gives him the right to be a candidate, would bring him into conflict with his party. Meral Askener, leader of the third parliamentary party, does not want to be the leader of the “six” of the Kilintsaroglou opposition. However, he has tried in the past to approach Mansur Yavas, the mayor of Ankara.

What is the big problem? That if a golden ratio is not found quickly, the opposition risks being seen in the eyes of the Turkish people as a heterogeneous group that cannot coordinately agree even on the basics. And let Tayyip Erdogan score even more points. Dimitris Triantafyllou, Professor of International Relations at Kadir Has University in Istanbul, said on SKAI radio: “the big battle is taking place within the opposition. They have united to overthrow the government and cannot make decisions. It should, because Tayyip Erdogan has already started his election campaign and has no opponent at the moment. I think more at this stage it puts them in a process of fighting each other even more and looking more unreliable rather than getting to the point of choosing a common candidate.”

THE Erdogan he can win the presidency and lose the majority in Parliament. He will be able to rule through the issuance of presidential decrees, but things will not be so simple in such a case. What will be of great interest in the next period is the battle of the “scarf”. Kemal Kilicdaroglu had started the discussion by stating that “we have made mistakes regarding the headscarf in the past. It’s time to leave this issue behind so that it stops hanging on the lips of politicians.” Everyone had assumed that the official opposition leader wanted to show conservative voters in Erdogan’s party that they have nothing to fear if their leader is out of the palace in the upcoming June elections. The Turkish president raised the gauntlet and proposed holding a referendum so that the Constitution could be amended and guarantee the right of women to wear the Islamic headscarf in public services, in the office at universities, etc. It is recalled that in Turkey such an issue has not been raised for years. Whether other polls will be set up before or alongside the national elections is an additional “card” that Erdogan can play on the way to the elections.

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