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- Written by Paul Kirby & Cagil Kasapoglu
- in London and Istanbul
image source, Reuters/Umit Bektas
Opposition supporters celebrated in Istanbul and other cities as the scale of the victory became clear
Turkey’s main opposition party won big electoral victories in the main cities of Istanbul and Ankara.
The result was a significant blow to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had hoped to regain control of the city within a year of claiming a third term as president.
He led the movement to victory in Istanbul, where he grew up and became mayor.
But Ekrem Imamoglu, who won the city for the first time in 2019, handed the secular opposition CHP a second victory.
Mr. Erdoğan had vowed to usher in a new era for Turkey’s megacity of about 16 million people, but the incumbent mayor of Istanbul is on track to win more than 50% of the vote, leading the president’s AK Party candidate by more than 10 points. Was.
It was also the first time since Mr Erdogan took power 21 years ago that his party has been defeated at the polls across the country.
In the capital Ankara, opposition mayor Mansour Yabas led his rivals by a wide margin with 59% of the vote, declaring victory after receiving less than half of the votes. Supporters blocked all major roads in the city, waving flags and honking car horns.
Importantly, the CHP was also on the path to victory in many of Turkey’s other major cities, including Izmir, Bursa, Adana, and the resorts of Antalya.
President Erdogan, 70, acknowledged that the election did not go as expected, but told supporters in Ankara that it would be “not the end for us, but rather a turning point.”
image source, Emin Sansart/Anadolu, via Getty Images
President Erdogan promised supporters that his party would learn lessons from its defeat.
He told supporters that his authority had always depended on the “will of the people” and that he would continue to respect voters.
During his campaign, Erdoğan said this would be his last presidential term, as it ends in 2028.
But critics believed a victory would prompt constitutional changes and allow him to run again. After such a dramatic defeat, that seems highly unlikely.
image source, Tolga Bozoglu/EPA-EFE
Ekrem İmamoğlu achieved victory as an opponent in Istanbul in 2019
In contrast, the result was a huge success for CHP Chairman Ozgur Ozer, who praised the voters who decided to change the face of Turkey in the historic vote, saying, “They opened the door to a new political landscape in our country.” We’re trying to open one,” he said. . ”
Crowds in Istanbul gathered outside Saracane City Hall, one of Istanbul’s oldest districts.
They waved Turkish flags and banners depicting Ekrem İmamoğlu alongside Turkey’s founding father Kemal Atatürk, and his posters were hung on the walls of local authority buildings.
“I can say that the people’s trust and faith in us has been rewarded,” Imamoglu said.
Both he and Mansour Yabas are thought to be potential candidates for the presidential election in 2028.
In Saracane, one of Istanbul’s oldest districts, İmamoğlu supporters danced to drums and clarinets and chanted, “Everything will be fine.”
Istanbul’s incumbent mayor first used the slogan when he won the city from Mr. Erdogan’s party five years ago. Some of Sarachane’s banners featured his current slogan, “Full Speed Forward.”
“This is just a local election, but the opposition’s victory in the big cities is an important show of strength against the ruling party,” Imamour supporter Yeshim Albayrak, 25, told the BBC.
Mehmet Bankasi, 27, told the BBC that Turkey needed change: “If Imamoglu or Mansour Yavas had been the CHP candidates in last year’s presidential election, they definitely would have won.” he said.
Istanbul is home to one-fifth of Turkey’s approximately 85 million people. Controlling a city gives you control over important parts of the Turkish economy, including trade, tourism, and finance.
Five years ago, Imamoglu overturned the AK Party’s long-standing control in Istanbul with support from other opposition parties. But that opposition unity crumbled following last year’s presidential election defeat, and the AK Party had high hopes of overturning its 2019 presidential election victory.
Ahead of Sunday’s election, the vote was expected to be too close to decide, with AK Party candidate Murat Krum mounting a strong challenge.
However, the ruling party has been unable to shake off the economic crisis, with inflation at 67% and interest rates at 50%.
Currently, large swaths of Turkey’s west, south and north are under opposition CHP control, while the pro-Kurdish Democratic Party has gained control of much of the southeast.
Mr. Erdoğan’s AK Party continues to hold sway in central Turkey, with further successes in areas in the southeast affected by the February 2023 double earthquake, including the cities of Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep.
Speaking from the balcony of his party’s headquarters in Ankara, he pledged to use the four years before the next presidential election to “renew ourselves and atone for our mistakes.”
His supporters shouted back: “Stay still, this country is with you.”
Some 61 million Turks were eligible to take part in Sunday’s election, and more than 1 million young voters cast their ballots for the first time. Voter turnout in 81 states nationwide was estimated to be over 77%.
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