Page 6 - Turkey Outlook 2025

Selahattin Demirtas and Osman Kavala).
If a UK allegory is employed for the sake of truly describing the so-called opposition in Turkey, it could be said that it amounts to “His Majesty’s Opposition”; it is not a true opposition that serves the republic.
Again, when observed from space, it appears that there is an opposition within the political system of the country. But when seen from the ground, it is not the case in reality.
Limited worth of local elections
Local elections also serve to create an appearance that seems to reflect some “competition” in the country.
Turkey, a seriously unitary state, has been governed from Ankara for about a century and by a single man since 2017, when the Turks said “Yes” in a constitutional referendum that did away with the parliamentary republic and invested any power worth having in the “executive president”.
Local municipalities in Turkey collect rubbish, operate water utilities and attend to other commonplace stuff. They are important in that they distribute the building permits (i.e. they decide who will make the money to be had from construction projects) and run tenders (i.e. they decide who will grow rich from their spending).
Thievery margin at the polls
The Erdogan regime is not happy when in local polls it loses the economic sources in question. However, in the local elections, the "thievery margin" seen in the national election vote counting breakdowns is not big enough in the various vicinities.
The real thievery in a general election turns on actions undertaken in rural areas. You might hear of the regime claiming it attracted 100% of the vote in a village. Are you going to go there to verify it if you don't believe it?
The ballot boxes not scrutinised by opposition polling station appointees represent around 30% of all ballot boxes, amounting to about 10% of the total national vote (they are located in small polling stations set up in villages located, for instance, amid mountainous territory, rather than in the crowded polling stations of the towns and cities).
Regime operatives distribute the 10% in question as they wish. And the end result is always something like a 52% “win” for the regime.
6 Turkey Outlook 2025 www.intellinews.com