Winning Istanbul...

The ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party Istanbul Provincial Presidency has launched a campaign called "Yeniden İstanbul" (Istanbul Again). The campaign is progressing with small yet attention-grabbing steps. The day President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won the presidential elections and alluded to the Istanbul elections, it has become a common phrase among journalists from the opposition CHP who fear losing Istanbul: "Erdoğan started his Istanbul campaign on the night of the presidential elections, and our side is still busy squabbling among themselves."

Istanbul is one of the most important cities in the world. With its historical accumulation reminiscent of cities like Jerusalem, Rome, or Cairo, and its modern face similar to cities like New York, Paris, or London, Istanbul has been the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires, serving as a cosmopolitan city where Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived peacefully side by side for centuries. Istanbul is a city that speaks and narrates itself. While interest in the world's most communicated capitals has declined in recent years, Istanbul continues to strengthen its claim as the global hub city day by day.

Istanbul is much more important for Türkiye than its global significance. It's the city of dreams for every Turkish citizen. Naturally, it's of vital importance for political parties as well.

So, why is Istanbul particularly important for the AK Party? President Erdoğan, who leads the AK Party as a prominent political figure, can be described as having a political journey entirely centered around Istanbul.

Before the 1994 local elections, Turkish politics were not as polarized as they are today. There were nearly five parties that could be considered ambitious in winning the Istanbul elections, and their vote percentages were not too far apart. As the likelihood of winning Istanbul started to appear on the horizon for the Welfare Party (RP), which could be deemed confident in this aspect, the discussion about who would be the candidate naturally became the party's most significant matter. Erdoğan, who was the Istanbul Provincial Chairman of RP and had meticulously organized the city, forming strong organizations in every district, was the main candidate. However, the RP headquarters had the idea of supporting Ali Coşkun's candidacy in mind. Every party has an issue of mistrust regarding their own progeny. Nevertheless, as one of the parties that faced this issue the least, RP managed to bring thousands of actors into politics.

Young people from different cities came to Istanbul to conduct a survey on who should be the candidate. Our curiosity about the research sector began at that time. At that time, I was the one collecting the data that went to the RP headquarters. When I noticed that even non-RP-affiliated people in Istanbul preferred Erdoğan, I grasped the groundswell coming from the grassroots even before the candidate was announced. People from Istanbul and the young people from the National Youth Foundation who conducted the survey seemed to be in alliance with each other. When an Istanbulite answered "Erdoğan" to the survey question, the young people couldn't contain their excitement and thanked that person. This was a significant societal motivation, a crucial winning synergy.

Many memories related to the election are still vivid. But the most important thing was that winning Istanbul for the Welfare Party, which represented the contemporary synthesis of Islamic thought that had lowered the flag during World War I, would be a great revolution.

In 1994, I was working near Salı Pazarı (Tuesday Market). I saw white paper brochures printed with red ink the size of a book from the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP). The market vendors were throwing the brochures on the ground without even looking at them. This incident had a profound impact on me, and I immediately started working on a newspaper. I took the newspaper to Güray Erol, our senior colleague. Later, we printed the newspaper in Yılmaz Bayat's printing house, who would become the Mayor of Üsküdar, and distributed it in the same market. The newspaper was flying off the shelves. It remained visible in Kadıköy for a long time.

In line with the expectations of RP supporters and Istanbul residents, Erdoğan became the candidate and turned a century-old dream into reality.

The spirit of 1994 was akin to the spirit of the War of Independence. So, during his three-year term as the Mayor of Istanbul, what did Erdoğan achieve?

1. He transformed Istanbul from being considered unmanageable into a city that is not just manageable but also proved it as such.

2. He formulated concrete policies rooted in politics in Istanbul, which ultimately became an accumulation that inspired the twenty-year AK Party governments.

3. He worked alongside hundreds of highly skilled experts in the field with a strong technical capacity. These individuals later became the pillars supporting AK Party politics.

4. He injected vitality into the realm of political and cultural production. Leading thinkers and artists from around the world converged with Istanbulites. Cultural spaces, which were limited in number at that time, overflowed.

After 25 years of providing exemplary urban services to the world, Istanbul was lost. Many considerations can be made about the loss of Istanbul, but it can be summarized in a single sentence: AK Party lost Istanbul not because of shortcomings in service but due to its inability to generate politics within the city and neglecting the city's sociological aspects. During Erdoğan's presidency, action, politics, and cultural production were thriving side by side. In subsequent periods, managing Istanbul had been reduced to the craft of public works.

As it was in 1994, shortly, the question of what kind of candidate the AK Party should have will arise. The healthiest answer to this question is as follows: Just like in 1994, the best candidate is the one who can concurrently manage municipal services, politics, sociology, and cultural production. There is still time for this matter. Meanwhile, it would be appropriate to delve into this discussion in more detail.