TURKEY — Yesterday, Turkish local elections for 2019 were held across the nation.
During his election rallies, Justice and Development Party (AKP)
leader and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used the video footage of the Christchurch terrorist attack. Although condemned internationally, the use of this footage still sparked violence in the country.
On election day, in two separate incidents in Gaziantep and Malatya, five people were killed and two were injured.
During the election, AKP joined the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) under a joint People’s Alliance. Opposing this alliance was another. The Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the İYİ Party entered some of the races as the Nation Alliance. Meanwhile a third group stood alone as an opposition party: the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
Results show that the Nation Alliance, in opposition to the People’s Alliance, held strong in urban and more cosmopolitan areas. Still, the governing People’s Alliance made gains in rural areas and smaller cities. In this way, the ruling party had actually increased their district municipalities since the last election in 2014.
Source: Wikipedia. 4/1/2019.
Brienna Parsons 