The repeat municipal elections of Istanbul, 2019: a new beginning for Istanbul and democracy in Turkey

Abstract

The Istanbul repeat elections held on June 23, 2019 re-solidified the electoral defeat of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in a major election. Earlier, the March 31, 2019 municipal election had already resulted surprisingly with the AKP’s loss of major provinces and metropolitan municipalities, Istanbul and Ankara in particular, to the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and its party-allies of the Nation Alliance. The CHP’s candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu won even more decisively this time, with more than 54% of Istanbul’s voters. These wins in the municipal and repeat-Istanbul elections provide an opportunity for a new democratic onset in Turkish politics. The CHP-led municipalities of Turkey in general, and the Istanbul municipality by İmamoğlu in particular, have the potential to become the driving force of a new wave of democratization in Turkey. This policy paper aims to lay out clearly some steps to be taken for that direction.