Coronavirus stokes tensions between Erdogan and Istanbul’s mayor

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The coronavirus pandemic has rekindled rivalry in Turkey between President Tayyip Erdogan and Istanbul’s opposition mayor, with disputes over fundraising and a potential lockdown possibly imperiling a coordinated effort to combat the outbreak.

The central government in Ankara has said a money-raising campaign launched by the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, is illegal and it has threatened to prosecute those involved.

Imamoglu, seen as a possible future candidate for the presidency, launched the campaign this week with the slogan “We will succeed together”, seeking cash and other donations from wealthier Turks for hundreds of thousands of those in need.

Erdogan then launched a rival “National Solidarity” campaign and promised seven months of his salary to the cause. Various state institutions, firms and politicians made contributions.

Turkey’s Interior Ministry said Imamoglu’s campaign contravened a law requiring that permission be sought from authorities before collecting money for the needy and said it would act against those responsible.

The rivalry is about much more than money-raising, though.

Imamoglu wants a lockdown in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city with 16 million people, to slow the spread of coronavirus, while Erdogan – who has adopted some other containment measures – is resisting such a move to cushion the economic pain.

Turkey’s confirmed coronavirus cases jumped to 13,531 on Tuesday, making it the 10th worst affected country in the world, with 214 deaths.

Ankara has halted all international flights, limited domestic travel, closed schools, bars and cafes and suspended mass prayers and sports fixtures to counter the outbreak. But people are still going to work as Erdogan seeks to sustain economic production and exports.

ISTANBUL AT RISK

Imamoglu said he has not discussed the pandemic with Erdogan since the first case was reported in Turkey on March 11, though he said “we would like to” share information.

“Istanbul is clearly now the fundamental center of this disease,” Imamoglu told FOX TV. “If just 15% of people go out in Istanbul, that is 2.5 million people – as much as the (entire population of some) cities in Europe which are lamenting their situation.”

Imamoglu, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), dealt Erdogan the worst electoral setback of his career when he beat a candidate from the ruling AK Party in a mayoral poll a year ago, and later logged an even bigger victory in a re-run.

Imamoglu has since repeatedly locked horns with the central government on issues such as funding and an Istanbul canal project. Now Istanbul, with nearly a fifth of Turkey’s population, is central to the fight against the pandemic.

On the money-raising campaign, Turkish media reports said one state bank had blocked donation accounts run by both Istanbul and the municipality of Ankara, where a CHP mayor was also elected last year, and which also launched a local fundraising campaign.

Istanbul insists it has the right to collect donations under the relevant law.

Separately, Istanbul has filed a legal complaint about what it said were orchestrated social media posts accusing the city council of allowing overcrowding on public transport that undermined the fight against the outbreak.