ISLAMABAD – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party suffereda major upset on Monday after local election results showed it lost thecapital Ankara and Istanbul after a decade and half in power.
Losing the country’s two major cities would be a stunning defeat forErdogan, a former Istanbul mayor himself, whose ability to win at theballot box has been unparalleled in Turkish history.
Erdogan campaigned hard, portraying Sunday’s vote for mayors and districtcouncils as a fight for the nation’s survival, but the election became atest for his Justice and Development Party (AKP) after Turkey slipped intoa recession for the first time in a decade.
The opposition CHP party candidate for Istanbul mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, wasleading by nearly 28,000 votes with most ballot boxes counted, SupremeElection Board (YSK) chairman Sadi Guven said.
Imamoglu won almost 4.16 million votes while the AKP candidate, formerpremier Binali Yildirim, won 4.13 million.
Both claimed victory in the early hours following a tight race for thecountry’s largest city after results showing them in a dead heat.
“We want to start working as soon as possible to serve people,” Imamoglutold reporters on Monday. “We want to cooperate with all institutions ofTurkey to quickly meet the needs of Istanbul.”
– ‘Dirty politics has lost’ –
In Ankara, opposition mayoral candidate Mansur Yavas had 50.89 percent ofvotes ahead of the AKP’s Mehmet Ozhaseki on 47.06 percent, Anadolu stateagency reported, with 99 percent of ballot boxes counted.
“Ankara has won. The loser in Ankara is Ozhaseki, dirty politics has lost,”Yavas told supporters who were waving Turkish flags and setting offfireworks at a celebratory rally.
But in a sign of possible turmoil ahead, AKP officials said they wouldchallenge the alleged invalidation of tens of thousands of votes in bothcities.
AKP secretary general Fatoih Sahin said the party will appeal in Ankara,saying the gap between the candidates “will narrow down and I believe itwill eventually turn into a positive result for us.”
Speaking to supporters in Ankara after Sunday’s polls closed, Erdogan hadsaid the election was a victory for the AKP, which along with its coalitionpartner, the rightwing Nationalist Movement Party, won more than 50 percentof votes overall.
– ‘Istanbul is his heart’ –
The loss in Istanbul, analysts said, would be especially sensitive forErdogan, who grew up in the city’s working-class Kasimpasa neighbourhood,and liked to tell AKP rank-and-file that victory in the city was likewinning all of Turkey.
“Istanbul is his heart, it’s really important for him, it is the firstplace they (AKP) started winning,” said Ayse Ayata, political scienceprofessor at Middle East Technical University in Ankara.
“They have retained their 51 percent majority in total, which is veryimportant. Had they not, this would lead into a questioning of theirlegitimacy.”
For his supporters, Erdogan remains the strong leader they believe Turkeyneeds and they tout the country’s economic development over the years heand the AKP have been in power.
Rallying his base among more religiously conservative Turks, Erdogan hadpresented his opponents as enemies of the state, tarnishing them as tied toKurdish militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who have fought adecades-long insurgency.
Rights activists and Turkey’s Western allies say that democracy has beeneroded under Erdogan’s leadership, particularly after a failed 2016 coupthat led to tens of thousands of people being arrested.
The AKP built its ballot box success on Erdogan’s perceived economicprowess, but before the vote, the Turkish lira was sliding again, provokingmemories of a 2018 crisis that saw the currency fall 30 percent and badlyhurt Turkish households.
How he manages the economy will be key for the party’s success before thenext presidential and general election in 2023.
Turkey has increasingly come under scrutiny as markets have grown wary ofErdogan’s policies. Inflation is in double digits, and foreign currencydebt payments are high.
The Turkish leader told supporters on Monday that economic reforms will bea focus. His finance minister has already said economic reforms will beannounced next week.
“Most probably he will emphasise guaranteeing a certain level of economicgrowth until the next general elections,” said Emre Erdogan, a professor atIstanbul Bilgi University and no relation to the president.
“Most probably the residents of both metropolitan cities suffered from theeconomic decline and it has been reflected in the polls.”
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was winning the racefor Istanbul mayor after Sunday’s election according to official results
President Erdogan said the election was a victory for AKP, which along withits coalition partner, the rightwing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), wonmore than 50 percent of the votes
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamogluwas leading the race for Istanbul mayor
For his supporters, Erdogan remains the strong leader they believe Turkeyneeds and they tout the country’s economic development over the years heand the AKP have been in power. APP/AFP