23 June 2019 Istanbul mayoral election

[Aclion]

Where's the option to make Istanbul Constantinople?

No, you can't go back to Constantinople

[North German Realm]

I'm no fan of Atatürk, to be honest (I maintain that the Allies should have forced the treaty on Turkey, especially after they fucking genocided the Greek after the war ended), but he was too soft on Islam. If he'd done his job right, Turkey at the very least would have a Muslim population in hundreds at best.

So you're angry that he committed genocide against the Greeks, and that he didn't commit genocide against Muslims?

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm angry that he committed genocide against Greeks, Armenians, and various other ethnicities that the territory his country occupies rightfully owned. Hell, I'm angry that he wasn't executed by the Allies and Turkey as a state wasn't abolished back in the 1920s., But I am also angry that he didn't complete his deislamification by neutralizing the clergy and reeducating the country into abandoning Islam altogether. Murder of Muslims would not be necessary when the country's total population was less than 15 million. He could have done what he was supposed to, but he eased the correct policies he was implementing, and let Turkey become the mess we see today.

[El-Amin Caliphate]

Who's the best Islamist?

[El-Amin Caliphate]

Who's the best Islamist?

Nvm, I picked

[Hakinda Herseyi Duymak istiyorum]

Where's the option to make Istanbul Constantinople?

The desire of political Islamists constantinople

[Baltenstein]

Where's the option to make Istanbul Constantinople?

The desire of political Islamists constantinople

I'm seeing Kemal fighting off clerics, communists and, uh, Mongols? What does the bald guy on the left represent?

[Nea Byzantia]

The desire of political Islamists constantinople

I'm seeing Kemal fighting off clerics, communists and, uh, Mongols? What does the bald guy on the left represent?

Venizelos...but without the beard or glasses

Jk

[Hakinda Herseyi Duymak istiyorum]

The last day istanbul is getting rid of the arab mentality occupation ''persecution began 1994''

[Vistulange]

So you're angry that he committed genocide against the Greeks, and that he didn't commit genocide against Muslims?

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm angry that he committed genocide against Greeks, Armenians, and various other ethnicities that the territory his country occupies rightfully owned. Hell, I'm angry that he wasn't executed by the Allies and Turkey as a state wasn't abolished back in the 1920s., But I am also angry that he didn't complete his deislamification by neutralizing the clergy and reeducating the country into abandoning Islam altogether. Murder of Muslims would not be necessary when the country's total population was less than 15 million. He could have done what he was supposed to, but he eased the correct policies he was implementing, and let Turkey become the mess we see today.

Mustafa Kemal had no reason to be executed by the Allies; he was an officer of the Ottoman Army and had nothing to do with the Armenian Genocide. He was branded a traitor by the Ottoman government in Istanbul, but c'est a vie: He won the war and overthrew the monarchy. Such is the luck of the winner, they get to dictate their terms. The Allies did not "impose" any sort of peace on Turkey because a) they were exhausted by war, and b) they agreed to a separate peace, which we call the Treaty of Lausanne. Moreover, the idea of any country "rightfully" owning any land is hogwash. Countries and borders are completely artificial constructs which we collectively choose to believe in. It's not "rightful" for this or that "nation".

He also had little interest in mass-murder. Instead, the transition to a "positivist Islam" would be conducted through the Directorate of Religious Affairs, which itself is the cause for a heated debate within Turkish academia: The Turkish state was never conceived as a secular state, but instead as a state in which the state held direct control over the religion and the interpretation of religion.

However, I really fail to see what your fantasies regarding Turkey and its founding father have anything to do with the election that is going to be held today. So, this part aside and hopefully behind us, I'll actually write about the topic at hand, as opposed to taking the bait.

Let's get one thing down, ladies and gentlemen: This election is a travesty. Practically nobody here, on the opposition side, thinks it's anything less. The only reason there isn't a large-scale boycott is because we're not gullible enough to think that a boycott will do anything to deter the AKP and its lapdog (snicker) the MHP: Those folks will be just fine winning an election with 45% participation and 99% of the vote, and they won't give two shits about what feeble protests come from the European Union. There's a particular idiom used in Turkish ("atı alan Üsküdar'ı geçti", for those that were curious) that explains when a situation has become a fait accompli, and Erdoğan is particularly fond of using the term, and in fact has become notorious for having used in back in the 2017 referendum. So, our only practical choice was to participate in the election. İmamoğlu has recognised as such, as well, from the first day onwards.

Where do we stand today? The opposition might have a comfortable win, but we did not get here easily. The early days were fraught with doubts: The Democratic Left Party (DSP) had fielded a candidate and was - in my opinion, perhaps harshly so - accused of being a Trojan Horse for the AKP, and indeed, they got about 30,000 votes. Small in a city of about 15 million, but when you consider that the final difference between İmamoğlu and Yıldırım was a mere 21,000-ish, that would have mattered much. In the repeat election, they withdrew from the competition, probably adding ~25,000 votes to İmamoğlu's count. DSP voters are very unlikely to vote AKP; they're people who live off of Ecevit's spirit and soul, God bless the man. That allowed us to breathe somewhat easily.

Another question was whether or not the Felicity Party (SP) would field a candidate, or stick to supporting the CHP. The SP is the supposedly-radical Islamist party who has the potential to siphon votes from the AKP, especially from the admittedly tiny radical Islamist faction within the AKP. They are standing as their own, which could mean a couple thousand votes going to them: In the prior election, the SP candidate got a whopping 103,000 votes. The opposite of the prior is applicable here: No SP voter is going to vote CHP: These people live off of Erbakan's spirit and soul. God might not want to bless this particular man.

And then we had a debate! For the first time in a generation! As anti-climactic as this'll be, the debate was largely...neutral. It's largely thought not to have convinced anybody to vote otherwise, and it's frankly unsurprising considering how polarised the country is these days. What it may have done is convince the neutral voters to one side or another, but again, the debate format and substance was too rigid and insignificant to have been effectual in swaying voters to either side.

At long last, though, the day is here. With the immense injustice done to İmamoğlu, and the electorate's being aware of this, I feel like the AKP is going to get a bigger defeat this time around. Öcalan's sudden embracement by the government indicates that the AKP is desperate - desperate for Kurdish votes - and exasperated, evidenced by the leader of the MHP essentially ranting about the HDP not obeying Öcalan's words, seeing they stated that they were firmly against Erdoğan, and not "neutral", as Öcalan wants the Kurds to be. Ironically, this is quite amusing considering how the AKP and MHP established a large part of their rhetoric on the idea that the opposition was in cohorts with Öcalan and the PKK, but...such is politics in Turkey.

I will pray for your life now that you admitted to voting against erdogan's interests and still live in the nightmare turkey is becoming

So of all that post, that was what you got out of it?

Do you even know what Turkey is like? My life is certainly not in danger in any way for admitting I'm a member of the opposition. It's shitty, but seriously, what the hell kind of propaganda have you been exposed to?

[Vistulange]

Well.

I mean, I expected Ekrem İmamoğlu to win, but...uh...not by a margin of ~725,000 votes! Woo!

It's a sunny time for Istanbul, now.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

Well.

I mean, I expected Ekrem İmamoğlu to win, but...uh...not by a margin of ~725,000 votes! Woo!

It's a sunny time for Istanbul, now.

Well that is a great result.

[Hurdergaryp]

Well.

I mean, I expected Ekrem İmamoğlu to win, but...uh...not by a margin of ~725,000 votes! Woo!

It's a sunny time for Istanbul, now.

Well that is a great result.

Not if you're Erdogan, because that was not supposed to happen at all.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

Well that is a great result.

Not if you're Erdogan, because that was not supposed to happen at all.

Third time will be a charm.

[Nakena]

Where's the option to make Istanbul Constantinople?

No, you can't go back to Constantinople

Until 1930 it was still officially named Constantinople.

[Gormwood]

Not if you're Erdogan, because that was not supposed to happen at all.

Third time will be a charm.

Istanbul mayoral re-run: Erdogan's ruling AKP lose again

His opponent, ex-PM Binali Yildirim, has conceded. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated the winner.

"I congratulate Ekrem Imamoglu who has won the election based on preliminary results," he tweeted.

Reggie congratulated him so he'll try something else instead.

[Nakena]

Third time will be a charm.

Istanbul mayoral re-run: Erdogan's ruling AKP lose again

His opponent, ex-PM Binali Yildirim, has conceded. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated the winner.

"I congratulate Ekrem Imamoglu who has won the election based on preliminary results," he tweeted.

Reggie congratulated him so he'll try something else instead.

He has no choice but to concede that defeat but he will be mad.

[Hurdergaryp]

No, you can't go back to Constantinople

Until 1930 it was still officially named Constantinople.

And in a way it still is, for Istanbul is Turkish for Constantinople.

[Gormwood]

Istanbul mayoral re-run: Erdogan's ruling AKP lose again


Reggie congratulated him so he'll try something else instead.

He has no choice but to concede that defeat but he will be mad.

Trumped corruption charges or even staged death.

[North German Realm]

Well.

I mean, I expected Ekrem İmamoğlu to win, but...uh...not by a margin of ~725,000 votes! Woo!

It's a sunny time for Istanbul, now.

I'm not going to lie, I half expected him to go "they cheated" and call for another re-election. Guess he knows when he's beat. This time. Here's hoping Istanbul is the beginning of the weakening of Erdogan's grip on Turkey.

Until 1930 it was still officially named Constantinople.

And in a way it still is, for Istanbul is Turkish for Constantinople.

Wait I thought that was Konstantaniyye.

[Hakinda Herseyi Duymak istiyorum]

Get well soon çomar istanbul became the winner

[Vistulange]

Well.

I mean, I expected Ekrem İmamoğlu to win, but...uh...not by a margin of ~725,000 votes! Woo!

It's a sunny time for Istanbul, now.

I'm not going to lie, I half expected him to go "they cheated" and call for another re-election. Guess he knows when he's beat. This time. Here's hoping Istanbul is the beginning of the weakening of Erdogan's grip on Turkey.

And in a way it still is, for Istanbul is Turkish for Constantinople.

Wait I thought that was Konstantaniyye.

The margin is just too great to say "they cheated" again. Right now, the final results have us sitting at around a 800,000 vote margin.

The AKP has been crumbling steadily, being unable to offer any sort of vision and future to their constituents. For the last ten years, all they've really been doing is pointing fingers and accusing the person the finger is directed at of being in cahoots with the PKK, the Fetullah Gülen cemaat, or DHKP-C, or whatever unfavourable group they pick. The AKP stopped policies around 2007, truthfully.

And yes, it was Konstantiniyye. "Istanbul" is a corruption of the phrase "eis tin Polin", I believe, which largely meant "to the City" to the Romans who lived there back in the day.

[Vassenor]

So when can we expect the next rerun?

[Gormwood]

So when can we expect the next rerun?

No more, Reggie admitted AKP sucked it. So we can expect purges then either trumped up corruption charges or even suspicious deaths.

[Rothbardian Paradise]

Ergodan drove opposition turnout and made himself look weak. An idiot as always. I'm sure he tried to cheat this one too.

[San Lumen]

Ergodan drove opposition turnout and made himself look weak. An idiot as always. I'm sure he tried to cheat this one too.

and if he tries anything this time it will only weaken him more.