Success of low-key mayoral campaign based on reaching out across a polarised Istanbul

Ekrem İmamoğlu was not a well-known figure in Turkish politics in the hectic run-up to Sunday’s local elections.

But by the end of the night, the secular Republican People’s party (CHP) candidate for mayor of Istanbul had become a household name, after delivering one of the most high-profile challenges to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s control of the country in years.

İmamoğlu was not supposed to win; most polls had him trailing his Justice and Development party (AKP) rival, the well-funded and powerful former prime minister Binali Yıldırım, by between 3-5 points. But when Erdoğan gave his first speech of the evening at 9pm, declaring an overall victory for the AKP, the stream of electoral board results for Istanbul suddenly stopped and people across Turkey realised the CHP candidate was probably pulling ahead in the president’s hometown.

İmamoğlu proved his mettle in the hours that followed, keeping his cool and refusing to concede during a marathon night of press conferences. Despite a premature victory announcement from Yıldırım, İmamoğlu struck a conciliatory tone not often heard in Turkish politics. When the count eventually restarted, the CHP candidate edged ahead with a lead of just 0.28%, with 99.8% of ballots counted.

“We want to start working as soon as possible to serve our people,” İmamoğlu said on Monday, as tensions were running high across the city. “We want to cooperate with all institutions of Turkey to rapidly meet Istanbul’s needs.”

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Official results have been delayed until next week and the AKP said on Tuesday it was contesting the results in all 39 of Istanbul’s districts. But many Istanbullus have already embraced İmamoğlu as their mayor.

“İmamoğlu represents everything we have missed in a long time. He has won the hearts of people who have missed a positive, all-embracing language that is careful not to be hurtful to anyone,” said a civil society activist, who asked not to be named.

“He is smart, has a great track record and is hopefully going to be the candidate against Erdoğan in 2023.”

İmamoğlu was born in the Black Sea city of Trabzon and studied business at Istanbul University before joining his family’s construction business. He entered local politics in 2009, becoming mayor of the middle-class Beylikdüzü district in 2014.

His low-key campaign strategy for Sunday’s election built on the good faith he earned as a competent and open-minded administrator in Beylikdüzü, reaching out to people across Istanbul’s diverse and polarised political, religious and ethnic spectrums.

“The media, especially the state television, is far from being fair … but we have social media which is at least an untouched area for now,” İmamoğlu told Agence France-Presse during the campaign.

“Right now my biggest weapon in the field is the 1,000-year-old method of communication by word of mouth.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ekrem İmamoğlu is surrounded by cheering supporters as he visits the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Ankara on Tuesday. Photograph: Burhan Özbilici/AP

In a campaign visit to the city’s Grand Bazaar, he memorably won round an older AKP supporter who refused to shake his hand, and the pair embraced at the end of their encounter. İmamoğlu was regularly seen at neighbourhood meetings discussing local issues, whereas Yıldırım was often sidelined during the contest by the president, who whipped up nationalist fervour at huge rallies.

İmamoğlu reached out to Erdoğan at the beginning of campaigning in January and the pair met to discuss Istanbul’s future at the presidential palace in Ankara. The gesture earned the respect of voters in Istanbul’s AKP strongholds who have often felt alienated by the secular and middle-class CHP.

Gürsel Tekin, an MP and vice-president of the CHP, said: “I have been touring the whole city for two years, hearing the people’s anger when we talk about the economic situation, and Kurdish voters who were voting for AKP before have also reacted to their threats.

“İmamoğlu is a successful and genuine politician. The biggest winner here is Turkish democracy.”

While critics say Erdoğan’s expanded presidential powers are helping to erode Turkey’s democratic structures, voter turnout – traditionally high across the country – still stood at 84%.

Opposition parties, notably the CHP and pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic party (HDP), worked together on a joint election strategy to capitalise on dissatisfaction with how the Erdoğan government has handled Turkey’s economic crisis.

The campaign managed to draw votes from the Kurdish minority unhappy with the arrests of HDP politicians as well as working-class AKP voters suffering from an inflation rate above 20% and rising unemployment.

İmamoğlu’s success has reinvigorated Turkey’s beleaguered opposition, poorly organised and unable to field candidates with broad cross-party appeal in the past.

“I will reconcile this nation. They will all see it,” he told reporters before flying to meet the CHP party leadership in Ankara on Tuesday to discuss the next steps in the disputed mayoral race.

“Actions based on political considerations will never replace reason and truth.”