Turkey: Regional Elections and the Kurdish Question (The Kurdish Minority) (Report‪)‬

Introduction In the campaign for the regional elections, Diyarbakir, the symbolic Kurdish capital, was of special importance for Prime Minister Erdogan and the AKP (Justice and Development Party). The mayor's office in Diyarbakir plays a significant role in defining and nationally dominating Kurdish policies. Mayor Osman Baydemir's (Democratic Society Party (DTP)) metaphor for Diyarbakir--a fortress that would not fall (1)--was challenged by the AKP, which set out to besiege and conquer it. It was a tough election campaign between the DTP and the AKP; both of them were present and active on the ground. However, neither the promise of improving the economic situation nor the initiatives concerning cultural rights, such as the introduction of Kurdish television, nor the distribution of refrigerators, rice, and noodles, paid off for the AKP. In Diyarbakir the result was clear: 65.4% for the DTP versus 31.6% for the AKP in the mayoral election, and 59.4% (DTP) to 32% (AKP) for the city council. (2) Diyarbakir province has seventeen constituencies, of which the DTP won fourteen and the AKP only one, with the other two going to the CHP (Republican People's Party) and the DSP (Democratic Left Party). (3) In the entire southeastern region, the AKP is still the strongest party, but compared to the outstanding results there in the parliamentary elections in 2007, with 52%, the new 38.34% total marks a significant drop. The DTP won in eight provinces in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia, and regained the provinces of Van and Siirt, but did not manage to win in Mardin or Bitlis. The overall result for the DTP was 37.4% in the nine southeastern provinces.