Preliminary results of local elections in Turkey show that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's party is heading for a solid defeat. Opposition party CHP is leading in the five major cities – and has already won in Istanbul and Ankara.
In the previous mayoral elections five years ago, the opposition party CHP was surprisingly able to break the power of the AKP (Erdoğan's party) in Istanbul and Ankara, where it now remains in power.
Erdoğan had hoped to strike back in Istanbul today and campaigned with AKP candidate Murat Kurum, but lost to incumbent mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has since claimed victory. "We are in first place with a lead of more than a million votes," İmamoğlu said. "We have won the elections."
In the Turkish capital Ankara, Mansur Yavaş (CHP) has already claimed victory, boosted by the large lead in the preliminary results.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Credit: Belga / Eric Lalmand
In Bursa, Antalya and Izmir too, Erdoğan's party seems to be heading for a solid defeat; Erdoğan himself already said that this is not what he had hoped for. "It is not the result we were aiming for. It is a turning point for us. We are going to reflect on this."
In the regions that were badly hit by the earthquake last year – in the southeast of the country – the AKP is winning.
While the local elections have no direct impact on Erdoğan's position, they are symbolically important as the results are an important gauge of the Turkish president's popularity.
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This victory for the CHP could give the opposition renewed confidence. Some citizens hope to put İmamoğlu forward as the opposition candidate for the 2028 presidential election.
In any case, that will not be an election against Erdoğan: earlier this month, he said that these municipal elections are the last in which he will actively participate, meaning he is no longer a candidate for the 2028 presidential election.
