Communists poised to win in eastern Turkish district

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Fatih Mehmet Maçoğlu is poised to win the district of Ovacık in the eastern province of Tunceli (Dersim) for the TKP.

Turkey appears set for its first-ever mayor to win under the banner of the Turkish Communist Party (TKP).

Fatih Mehmet Maçoğlu is poised to win the district of Ovacık in the eastern province of Tunceli (Dersim) for the TKP, which entered the election in the area as part of an alliance with the left-wing civil organizations, Dersim Democratic People's Solidarity (DDHD) and the Democratic Peoples' Federation (DHF).

With nine of 10 ballot boxes counted in the district, Maçoğlu has a 3 percent lead over the Peace and Democracy Party's (BDP) Mustafa Sarıgül – the district's incumbent mayor who happens to share his name with the more famous main opposition candidate for Istanbul. Sarıgül won the district in 2009 for the Republican People’s Party (CHP) before joining the BDP last year.

With the highest percentage of Alevis – who vote disproportionately left – per province in all of Turkey, Tunceli has long been a bastion for socialist politics under the auspices of a number of left-wing parties.