This analysis explains the March 2019 local election’s significance to Turkish politics and concentrates on the ways in which the visions of various political parties for local government have changed over the years.
Local elections in Turkey are taking on the character of general elections as foreign policy comes to dominate the conversation.
The final two weeks of any election campaign fuels the momentum that settles the score. Leaders and candidates, therefore, put their best foot forward in the final days before the election. Turkey finds itself at that very spot now. The municipal election is just 10 days away.
On March 13, the European Parliament voted on the suspension of accession talks with Turkey.
As expected, the municipal election campaign in Turkey has ended up bogged down in national issues.