Türkiye’s main opposition party has claimed big election victories in the main cities of Istanbul and Ankara.
The results are a significant blow for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had hoped to regain control of the cities less than a year after he claimed a third term as president.
Türkiye’s main opposition party has claimed victory in Istanbul and Ankara in local elections, inflicting the biggest defeat on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in more than two decades.
Ballot boxes opened in Istanbul on Sunday, Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) said he had defeated the governing AK Party candidate by more than one million votes.
Opposition supporters gathered in Istanbul to celebrate the results.
President Erdogan, 70, acknowledged the election had not gone as he had hoped, but he told supporters in Ankara it would mark “not an end for us but rather a turning point”.
Speaking from the balcony of his party headquarters in Ankara, he promised to use the four years before the next presidential election to “renew ourselves and compensate for our mistakes”.
About 61 million Turks were eligible to take part in Sunday’s election. Turnout was estimated at more than 77% across the country’s 81 provinces.
Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas
