Bursa, this Turkish metropolis which switched to the opposition camp in the municipal elections

Turkey’s fourth city voted for the CHP, the Republican People’s Party, after 22 years of management by the AKP, the party of President Erdogan.

It was a week ago, Sunday March 31, when a clap of thunder rang out across the Turkish political landscape. The opposition party, the CHP, overtook that of President Erdogan in the municipal elections, a first. The Republican People’s Party, its name in French, now runs the largest cities, bringing together two-thirds of the Turkish population and 80% of export revenues. Franceinfo visited the metropolis of Bursa, Turkey’s fourth largest city, in the Marmara region in the northwest of the country. This large industrial center, which has fallen into the hands of the opposition, is one of the CHP’s finest captures, after 22 years of management by the AKP, President Erdogan’s party.

Berna, a loyal opposition voter, still can’t believe it. “Monday morning I was so happy. I didn’t expect such a result. When I went to vote with my mother and my family, we were even a little desperate, because none of us remembered having won a single election”, she remembers. Her friend, Niher, has always supported President Erdogan’s party. This time she slipped a CHP ballot into the ballot box.

“We were waiting for a change in Bursa, we were fed up.”

Niher, who voted for the CHP in the municipal elections

at franceinfo

“Young people, in particular, no longer want this government, they feel oppressed, as if under curfew. They had the impression that their lives were being stolen from them… Religion is very important for us but it must not prevent freedom. And these young people voted for their freedom”, assures Niher.

Fadil, who is about to enter university, is one of these young people. “I was disgusted with politics since Erdogan’s re-election. Above all, we needed to change. This victory of the opposition stunned the government and that gives us hope, for more democracy. Democracy is dying in Turkey. Change had to come here but also throughout Turkey.” Fadil analyzes.

“We put people at the heart of our work,” assures the new mayor

The project of candidate Mustafa Bozbey, the new mayor of Bursa, was also popular. For five years, he met women, young people and retirees to build it, taking Nilüfer, one of the communities he led for a long time, as an example.

“Everything is important, sports facilities, cultural centers, theaters, places of exchange, libraries, cycle paths, walking paths. We have many parks and green spaces here. We have carried out rigorous planning before making them, he assures. This is how we created Nilüfer and how Nilüfer is a well-known city in Europe. Everyone envies us. We put people at the heart of our work.” A green, cultural and social city: a winning recipe in Bursa, as in the rest of Turkey.