Huge crowd flocks to Istanbul mayor inauguration

A vast crowd gathered at Istanbul’s town hall on yesterday to see the inauguration of new mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, whose landslide victory has boosted the opposition for the first time in years. “Today is a celebration of democracy, a celebration of Istanbul,” he told a sea of Turkish flags in the city’s historical centre.  None of Turkey’s main television channels, seen as cowed by the government of President Recept Tayyip Erdogan, carried Imamoglu’s speech. 

It is the second time this year that Imamoglu, of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), has been handed the keys to the city.  His first election victory in March was annulled after controversial claims of rigging by Erdogan and the ruling AKP.  But he won a decisive victory in the re-run last Sunday, increasing his margin of victory from just 13,000 in March to more than 800,000 against Erdogan’s chosen candidate, Binali Yildirim. 

“The people of Istanbul taught a lesson to a handful of people who wanted to harm democracy,” Imamoglu said.  The 49-year-old former district mayor has electrified the opposition by eschewing the usual aggressive trash-talking of Turkish politics.  “He speaks a language we have been missing for years. That’s why we are here,” said Erol, a supporter in the crowd.

Erdogan -- who once said that winning Istanbul was like winning all of Turkey -- appears to have accepted the victory.  “We don’t have the luxury of turning a deaf ear... to the message given by our people,” he told party members on Wednesday.  The defeat is seen as especially sensitive for the Turkish leader, who grew up in one of its working class neighbourhoods.