The followers of the Party of Justice and Development (AKP) are disappointed by the poor economic assessment of the government and by its authoritarian drift.
by Angèle Pierre (Istanbul, Correspondence )
In the 2011 legislative elections, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) won almost 50 % of the vote. Six months from the next presidential and legislative elections, scheduled for June 2023, only 36.3 % of the voting intentions are credited according to the Metropoll Survening Institute. The supporters of yesterday do not hesitate to criticize the excesses of “reïs” (the chief), one of the nicknames of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“I no longer trust the AKP”, loose Alparslan (all first names have been changed), seated on the sofa of his living room, between two sips of tea. The 24 -year -old, married, father of a child, lives in the conservative district of Sultanbeyli, in Istanbul, widely acquired in the Turkish number one party. Coming from a politically active family, he naturally supported the party as soon as he had the right to vote. Today, however, he admits his spite: “I voted for Erdogan in 2018 for religious reasons. I am a believer, and it was the best candidate in my eyes. But now he can no longer stop the economic crisis. “
Employee at the minimum wage (5,500 Turkish pounds net, or around 285 euros) in a balloon manufacturing plant, Alparslan must work overtime in a curtain making workshop to provide for his family. “With a child at home, I had to light the heating for a few days. I have no idea of the gas bill that I will have to pay at the end of the month … 1,500 pounds probably “, he fears.
With a rent of 1,300 pounds, end of the month is difficult. He made a request to municipal services to obtain social assistance, but the examination of their situation was not deemed convincing for the services of the town hall. “The AKP no longer exists, it is just the party of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says his wife, Hatice, seated by his side. He made his day, he must leave and leave room for young people who have a vision For the future, “she says, taking a look at the baby gushing on the carpet. Rare speech on the part of a modest and generally suspicious electorate towards the foreign press.
“Authoritarian drift”
Barely created, the party, founded by President Erdogan and some fellow travelers, entered Parliament twenty years ago on November 3, 2002. His political speech was articulated around the cultural revenge of The conservative Anatolia on a secular, oppressive and anti -democratic Kemalist establishment.
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