Under the radar: Ankara mayor rises to national prominence in Turkey

During the municipal elections in 2019, Turkey watchers were keeping a close eye on the Istanbul race, where Ekrem Imamoglu defeated Erdogan’s handpicked candidate twice.

In the same election, Erdogan’s candidate also lost in Ankara, where Mansur Yavas won the election, and his popularity has been rising. Nikos Efstathiou, a journalist with Kathimerini, recently profiled Ankara’s mayor. 

Nikos Efstathiou joins us today to talk about what’s behind Mayor Yavas’s growing popularity, which is seeing him compared to other politicians such as Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and Meral Aksener who are increasingly seen as potential candidates that could take on Erdogan in the 2023 elections.