ISTANBUL, March 24 — Fatih Macoglu, the popular “Communist Mayor” of a city in eastern Turkiye, is now vying for control of a vibrant and hip Istanbul district along the...
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During his five-year term, he won plaudits for knocking down the doors of his office as a form of transparency. He took over a city council that had been run by the pro-Kurdish HDP party — until it was handed to a government-appointed trustee in the wake of a failed coup in 2016 that aimed to topple long-standing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“I closely followed Macoglu’s successful practices. I was impressed by his honest approach to politics,” said Sevgi Celik, a 42-year-old resident of Kadikoy.“I think we are not going through good times. The country in general is not in a good state. For things to get better, we need better people in power.”“We cannot find shelter. We cannot eat. We cannot drink. We cannot travel. This must change,” he said.
Macoglu’s bid for Kadikoy — an arty neighbourhood with lively cafes, bars and galleries — drew rebuke from supporters of the CHP and the pro-Kurdish DEM party, which is also standing in Istanbul.“We are Socialists. We want to explain to the public that there are better programmes. We are not against any party.”