As a result of the military’s seizure of power on September 12, 1980, important changes occurred in Türkiye. The most important action of the military regime was the closure of all political parties, many unions, and associations. Many changes were made to the Constitution after its adoption in 1982, especially ones that violated fundamental freedoms and rights. The leaders of closed political parties received a ten-year political ban as a result of the Constitution. The 1982 Constitution also contained important regulations regarding local governments. The most important of these was the provision that “special forms of administration can be introduced for large settlements”. Thus, the establishment of “metropolitan municipalities” in cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir would be possible.

The country was governed by the National Security Council (NSC), which was formed by soldiers until the 1983 elections. In 1983, only a few parties were permitted to establish, and Turgut Özal’s Motherland Party (ANAP) won the elections. The Populist Party (HP) and the Nationalist Democracy Party (MDP) were the other two parties that the soldiers let compete in the elections. As the second and third parties, they undertook the opposition task in the Parliament. The Social Democracy Party (SODEP), True Path Party (DYP), and Welfare Party (RP), which were not allowed to participate in the elections, constituted the extra-parliamentary opposition. SODEP and HP were the continuations of the closed Republican People’s Party (CHP), while the DYP was the continuation of the closed Justice Party (AP).

According to the constitution, local elections were supposed to be held in 1984. For this purpose, for the first time, an election law regarding local elections was prepared. Despite the President’s veto, the measure was approved by the Parliament with the support of ANAP. The opposition also applied to the Constitutional Court for the annulment of the law, claiming that it was unconstitutional. Their objections were dismissed. In the adopted law, there was also an article regarding the granting of the authority to establish metropolitan municipalities to the government through a decree law. Using this authority, the government decided to establish metropolitan municipalities in Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara with Decree-Law No. 195. With the enacted decree, district municipalities were established in areas that were previously organized as branches of the Istanbul Municipality. These municipalities were also within the boundaries of the metropolitan municipality. They were endowed with mutual duties and powers.

The adopted election law and the Decree Law contained anti-democratic provisions. The voting age was set at 21 by law, and youngsters were prevented from participating in politics. The Minister of Interior Affairs was given the authority to dismiss the mayor against whom an investigation was carried out. The governor, who was a government representative, was also given the power to approve the municipalities’ budgetpreparation authority. Additionally, it was agreed that the municipal council elections to be held every five years and to implement a % threshold requirement in order to be elected. The promises of the candidates for the Istanbul Metropolitan Presidency elections focused on problems such as metro construction, transportation, traffic, cleaning, and slums. ANAP, the ruling party, tried to attract the attention of the voters by dealing with the issue of granting title deeds to the slums before the election. ANAP ran a campaign to suggest that voters would receive more service if they chose their candidate. ANAP emphasized that the ideological debates before September 12, 1980, dragged the country into a dead end, and that presidents and administrators who did business should be elected instead of ideological fights. The other parties could not have much influence on the voters with their fragmented structure. ANAP’s promises put the opposition parties in a difficult position.

ANAP won the national elections held on March 25, 1984, as well as Dalan, ANAP’s candidate for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. ANAP also became the first party in all districts of Istanbul and showed the victory in 1983 was not accidental. Istanbul is the major voting hub for political parties, and the party that has the majority across the nation has received more votes from Istanbul voters than the national average. In a way, the elections in Istanbul were the ones that chose the winner in Türkiye. As a result of the election campaigns, Istanbul voters voted for the party rather than the candidate, and they showed their belief that the power opportunities would flow more to the municipality where a candidate of the ruling party was elected. The rhetoric of the opposition parties was not effective in the election. Voters were disinterested in the emphasis on democracy that they used to criticize ANAP’s concrete and populist projects.