ANKARA – Turkish opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has secured its first victory in the mayoral election in Ankara since 1994, with the party’s candidate outrunning his rival from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) by a narrow margin.
Turkish citizens voted in municipal elections on Sunday, choosing new mayors of cities, municipal leaders, heads of villages and members of village councils, among others.
For Ankara, Erdogan faced a blow at the hands of secular People’s Republican party (CHP) mayoral candidate, Mansur Yavaş as party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu claimed his party’s victory in the mayoral elections in Izmir as well, though final results are awaited.
Mansur Yavas obtained 50.9 percent of the vote, while AKP’s Mehmet Ozhaseki had won 47.06 percent, with 99.8 percent of the ballots counted, the Hurriyet Daily news reported.
Erdogan campaigned hard, portraying vote for mayors and district councils as a fight for the nation’s survival, but the election became a test of AKP rule after Turkey slipped into a recession for the first time in a decade.
The opposition candidate for Istanbul mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu was leading by nearly 28,000 votes with most ballot boxes counted, Supreme Election Board (YSK) chairman Sadi Guven said though final results would confirm the winner.
Imamoglu won almost 4.16 million votes while the Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate, former premier Binali Yildirim, garnered 4.13 million.
Though the results for capital are worrying for the president, all is not over for the AKP leader as the People’s Alliance led by the party has won 51.7 percent of the nationwide vote, according to unofficial results.
On the other hand, The Nation Alliance, led by Republican People’s Party (CHP), bagged 37.6 percent nationwide.
President Erdogan addressed his supporters from Ankara after unofficial results poured in from over 50 out of 81 provinces.
“The only reason why we lost some cities is that we could not express ourselves enough to some voters,” he said.
“If we have objections [with the electoral commission], we will raise them. Do not forget, every cloud has a silver lining. This is the struggle for democracy,” Erdogan said.
