There are some words in politics that are applauded as soon as they are uttered.
But it often does not tell the whole truth.
Mr. Bülent Arınç “In politics, they cut off the head of the early crowing rooster” is one of them.
It is true; an early show of power in politics is risky.
However, it is incomplete.
Because this word describes the result, not the cause.
The real question is this:
Why does a politician sing early?
In the case of Ekrem İmamoğlu, every comment made without asking this question is to look only at the frame of the photo and not to see inside.
Is Imamoglu's Rapid Rise a Coincidence?
Ekrem İmamoğlu's pre-political life is similar to that of many medium-sized business people in Anatolia.
Family businesses, construction, real estate, tourism...
2019 mal beyanına göre, İmamoğlu’nun %60 hissedarı olduğu şirketin sermayesi 4 milyon 200 bin TL.
He enters politics as CHP Beylikdüzü District Chairman,
becomes the Mayor of Beylikdüzü after one term,
from there to the presidency of Turkey's largest municipality.
Who was the architect of this rapid rise?
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
And then what happened?
Presidential Election: Silent Sabotage?
Another critical threshold is the presidential election.
What would have happened if Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had won this election?
He would have become the most powerful political figure in Turkey.
No matter who he nominated for Istanbul in the local elections, CHP would most likely win.
In other words, İmamoğlu's fate would be completely between Kılıçdaroğlu's two lips.
Caution:
- The energy for the assembly,
- He was not nominated in the presidential election.
- The election was lost,
- This was followed by the discourse that “Kılıçdaroğlu should no longer be the chairman”.
Why has Kılıçdaroğlu become an “obstacle”?
According to the allegations, Ekrem İmamoğlu took an active role in the CHP congress process to prevent Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu from being re-elected as the chairman.
There were even serious allegations of bribery of delegates.
Why?
Because if Kılıçdaroğlu had won the congress:
- He would single-handedly determine the candidates for local elections,
- It would increase the emphasis on “clean politics”,
- And most importantly, he could not have nominated Imamoğlu as a candidate for Istanbul.
This meant the de facto end of Imamoğlu's political life.
And the CHP continued with Özgür Özel, a man who was in full allegiance to İmamoğlu.
Why did he say “I am a candidate” so early?
The key phrase here is:
It's in the eye of the beholder.
Ekrem İmamoğlu is the person who knows best what he did during his term as mayor.
He also foresaw a possible judicial process and operation to come.
That's why:
- 3.5 years before the elections,
- Out of the blue,
“He had to say ”I am a presidential candidate".
This was not political courage but political necessity.
The Story of Money
Presidential candidacy is not a romantic slogan; it is a serious cost.
A rally in a province:
- Scene,
- Sound system,
- Security,
- Logistics,
- Media...
Average cost: 3 million TL.
If you hold rallies in 50 provinces: 150 million TL and let's assume that this lasts until his official candidacy is announced; the figure reaches billions when election offices, personnel and materials are added.
And where did this money come from?
- He can't get it from the municipality,
- He can't get it from the CHP,
- Since he is not an official candidate, he cannot collect donations.
The capital of the family business is 4.2 million TL.
This math doesn't work.
Perception Operation
The state monitors everything.
Imamoğlu knew this and the state knew what he was doing.
So what had to be done was this:
To turn a possible legal process into a political one.
An Imamoğlu who is not a presidential candidate,
public opinion “a mayor accused of corruption” it would be.
Imamoglu is the presidential candidate:
“There is an operation against me” he was able to say.
And the spokesperson of this perception on the ground,
almost like a figurehead president,
Özgür Özel took over.
Last Word
At first people believed.
“This is a political operation,” they said.
But as time went by, the following phrase became embedded in the memory of the society:
Where there is no fire, there is no smoke.
Maybe it's the issue,
not why the early crowing cock is decapitated,
why he had to crow so early.
And therein lies the real answer.