Leaders sweat in city squares, while candidates sweat in the streets

In fact, in these pre-election days, they are out there sweating it up just as much as party leaders, trolling every corner of their electoral districts. For the past three weeks we have tagged along with some politicians to get a sense of what work goes on behind the election curtains. We bring it now to these pages to give you a better idea.

   Once again, we are in pre-election times and leaders are running from rally to rally. There are long, often tiring programs on TV every evening. But there are also lots of candidates out there, too, involved in all the campaigning frenzy as much as party leaders are. For about three weeks, we hung out with them. We toured all of İstanbul with them. We headed out with them to talk to local businessmen and join in on home visits. We made our way through Kağıthane with the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) Ayşenur Bahçekapılı and through Sarıyer with Burhan Kuzu. We toured Fatih with Melda Onur from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Silivri with the CHP’s Sabahat Akkiraz.

 The view we got was far from what you see on TV screens. We heard no insults directed towards AK Party candidates from CHP supporters and vice versa. The most severe reactions were just people who simply closed their doors or refused to extend their hands for a handshake. One thing we did notice is that people are not used to seeing headscarved women on CHP buses. And we did tend to feel that people were looking at us, with the question “What are you doing here?” in their eyes. There were even those who viewed our presence on the CHP bus as an attempt by the CHP to win over the headscarved vote. There were even some who said “Bravo!” to the fact we were touring around with CHP candidates.

 Read on to get a sense of some of the interesting dialogues that took place out there with candidates from all points of the political spectrum.

Demands from Alevi citizens are on the agenda these days. To hear some of these demands, we joined famous folk singer and CHP candidate Sabahat Akkiraz in Silivri. The day’s program did not include any visits to local merchants or traders. So we headed straight for the local Alevi Culture Association, without stopping anywhere else. Just as we were about to enter the building, someone from the CHP called out: “Sabahat Hanım, if only you had greeted some of the merchants here. They are a bit hurt.” We turned and headed off to greet some of the merchants, but by then they had about them an air of, “Never mind, we don’t need this anymore.” As for those at the Alevi Culture Association, they were very happy to see Akkiraz. The conversation there was marked by calls for unity. One Alevi citizen noted that much progress has been made in the past three to four years and that he believes that with help from Akkiraz other problems will be solved. One of the most basic demands mentioned at this meeting is that the legal status of cemevis (Alevi places of worship and community centers) be dealt with and recognized. And much emphasis was placed on the desire to see deputies in Parliament who get a lot of work done and are not known simply for talking a lot.

A day with Burhan Kuzu

We then embarked on a tour of Sarıyer with Burhan Kuzu, an AK Party deputy who is also running in this next election. The situation in the Büyükdere neighborhood in which the CHP came first in the local elections in 2009 is starkly different from the situation in Kağıthane. Here, the people speak much more than the candidate. Everyone lists their expectations as well as their complaints. Most complaints seem to be on the topic of pensions. What is strange is that those who have lots of criticism for the Sariyer Municipality even seem to be placing the responsibility on Kuzu. He tries to carefully explain local government to everyone with whom he speaks. He talks about the different areas of responsibility when it comes to the Greater İstanbul Municipality and the local Sarıyer Municipality. Not everyone understands, though. One woman stops us as we leave the shop where Kuzu was meeting residents and asks if Kuzu can find a job for her “very handsome, silvery-haired son.”

Candidate Kuzu is still not tired, despite around four hours of touring the area and is still making jokes that turn the whole experience into an enjoyable one. After hearing a load of criticism aimed at him, he turns and says to us, “You see, I cannot even make it through this flood of appreciation.”

Later, we met up with Ayşenur Bahçekapılı, an AK Party candidate in İstanbul’s second district, at the AK Party’s Kağıthane election office. We wasted no time in starting our election tour for the day. We headed first for the Nurtepe neighborhood and entered an apartment building where we were scheduled to have some “ev sohbet,” or home conversations, with people. We go from door to door. Some doors never even open and other residents simply greet the candidate through the iron gates protecting the door. Everyone we encounter was offered a carnation and a brochure as well as asked for their support in the upcoming elections. After a very short conversation, we started our visits to local merchants and traders.

 The first workplace we enter was that of a car mechanic. We were greeted by people with smiling faces. Bahçekapılı asked about the mechanics wishes and his expectations. One replied, “It’s enough that Allah sees to it that Tayyip Erdoğan remains our leader.” Since this is an area where the AK Party received many votes in previous elections, around 80 percent of the local merchants had similar stances.

A CHP break in the AK Party office

Now it’s time to join CHP candidate Melda Onur for a tour through the İstanbul district of Fatih. We head out on the road in a CHP election bus, accompanied by music. Sometimes there are power surges on the bus and the music stops suddenly. We arrive at our destination, Salıpazarı, in silence. The first elderly lady we greet as we head out onto the streets asks us, “Do you come as envoys from Tayyip?” Melda Onur replies, “No, from the CHP, how are you?”

 The elderly woman, who looks around 80 years old, first offers up some prayers for Onur and then says to us all: “Anyway, I pray daily, I will pray for you all. Look at how well you studied, my young one. Now work well, serve the state.”

 We continue on our way, and as we walk we pass the AK Party Mayoral Communications Office. It is a newly opened office. Onur decides to drop in to wish everyone here well. As it turns out, Fatih Mayor Mustafa Demir is there. When he sees Onur, he immediately comes outside, saying: “Oooh, welcome. Please, come inside. Come and share a tea with us.” We headed inside the new office, and meet AK Party candidate Volkan Bozkır. Conversation starts up, accompanied by tea and cookies. There is none of the atmosphere of sharp debates and the tough words heard in the city square rallies or in Parliament here. To the contrary, everyone just wishes everyone all the best in their mutual quest.