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| The Grand Turk |
| Erdogan ousts Turkey's mayors in hope of poll boost |
| 2017-11-03 |
| [DAWN] ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... has in the recent weeks forced from office several of ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's big-city mayors, in a purge of local officials designed to shore up support for his ruling party. In a fast-moving and sometimes ruthless chain of resignations, four top city mayors have stepped down at Erdogan's request, paying the price for the ruling party's somewhat lacklustre performance in the April referendum on constitutional change. Analysts say that after 15 years in power, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Erdogan is genuinely worried about its level of support ahead of a critical election year in 2019. "The dismissals of the mayors are for different reasons but it's all with the aim of improving the electoral position of the party," Ilter Turan, a professor of political science at Istanbul's Bilgi University, told AFP. "The party is in a quandary as to why is it losing votes. The erosion of support was evident in the referendum. "The president is trying to develop ways to turn the electoral tide around," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |