Preliminary results indicate Turkey’s opposition retaining major cities
ANKARA: Turkiye’s main opposition party appeared set to retain its control over key cities in Sunday’s local elections, preliminary results showed, marking a significant setback for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had set his sights on retaking control of those urban areas.
With approximately 20 per cent of the votes tallied, Ekrem Imamoglu, the incumbent mayor from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), leads in Istanbul, Turkiye’s largest city and economic center, as reported by state broadcaster TRT. Similarly, Mayor Mansur Yavas, the mayor of the capital Ankara, appears to secure re-election with a comfortable majority.
According to TRT’s preliminary results, the CHP is ahead in 35 of Turkiye’s 81 provinces.
These elections are viewed as a measure of Erdogan’s popularity as he aims to regain control of cities lost to the opposition five years ago. The CHP’s victories in Ankara and Istanbul in 2019 marked a significant challenge to Erdogan’s dominance.
The main battleground for the 70-year-old Turkish president was Istanbul, a city of 16 million people where he was born and raised and where he began his political career as mayor in 1994.
A strong performance for Erdogan’s ruling Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party (AKP) would bolster his efforts to introduce a new constitution reflecting conservative values and potentially extending his rule beyond 2028, analysts say. For the opposition, retaining control of Istanbul and Ankara following last year’s electoral defeats would rejuvenate their base and strengthen their position.
Some 61 million people, including more than a million first-time voters, were eligible to cast ballots for all metropolitan municipalities,
town and district mayorships as well as neighborhood administrations.
Turnout is traditionally high in Turkiye, but this time the vote comes against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis. Observers said disillusioned opposition supporters could opt to stay home, doubting that the election will change things. Governing party supporters, meanwhile, could also choose not to go to the polls in protest at the economic downturn that has left many struggling to pay for food, utilities, and rent.
Some 594,000 security personnel were on duty across the country to ensure the vote goes smoothly. Nevertheless, one person was killed and eleven others were hurt in the city of Diyarbakir where a dispute over the election of a neighbourhood administrator turned violent, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
At least six people were also injured in fighting that erupted in the nearby province of Sanliurfa.
“According to the data we have obtained, it seems our citizens’ trust in us, their faith in us has paid off,” Imamoglu said of the early results.
Polls had pointed to a close race between Istanbul’s incumbent mayor, Imamoglu, and the AKP’s candidate Murat Kurum, a former urbanisation and environment minister.
Imamoglu, a popular figure touted as a possible future challenger to Erdogan, ran without the support of some of the parties that helped him to victory in 2019.
