Turkey elections: President Erdogan suffers blow as opposition make big gains

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fails to take back key cities in local elections
Michael Howie1 April 2024

Turkey's main opposition party retained its control over key cities and made huge gains elsewhere in Sunday's local elections, preliminary results showed.

The outcome was a major upset to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had set his sights on retaking control of those urban areas.

With nearly 60% of the ballot boxes counted, incumbent mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, of the Republican People's Party, or CHP, was leading in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city and economic hub, according to state broadcaster TRT.

Mansur Yavas, the mayor of the capital Ankara, retained his seat with a large margin, the results indicated.

The CHP was leading in 36 of Turkey's 81 provinces, according to the results reported by TRT.

The vote was seen as a barometer of President Erdogan's popularity as he sought to win back control of key urban areas he lost to the opposition in elections five years ago.

The CHP's victory in Ankara and Istanbul in 2019, had shattered Mr Erdogan's aura of invincibility.

TOPSHOT-TURKEY-POLITICS-MUNICIPAL-VOTE
Ankara's Mayor and Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate Mansur Yavas waves to supporters in Turkey’s capital
AFP via Getty Images

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.

The result came as a boost for the opposition, which was left divided and demoralised after a defeat to Mr Erdogan and his ruling Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in last year's presidential and parliamentary elections.

"The voters decided to establish a new political order in Turkey," CHP leader Ozgur Ozel told a crowd of jubilant supporters.

"Today, the voters decided to change the 22-year-old picture in Turkey and open the door to a new political climate in our country."

A large crowd, meanwhile, gathered outside Ankara City Hall to celebrate Mr Yavas' victory. "Ankara is proud of you," supporters chanted.

Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul-based Edam think tank, said "the surprising outcome" was due to voters wanting to punish the ruling party over the "depth of an economic malaise".

Skyrocketing inflation has left many Turkish households struggling to afford basic goods.

AKP supporters opted to stay away from the ballot stations or voted for other parties, Mr Ulgen said.

"Turnout was relatively low compared to past elections," he said.

TOPSHOT-TURKEY-POLITICS-MUNICIPAL-VOTE
Opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) supporters celebrate outside the main municipality building in Istanbul
AFP via Getty Images

"There were cross-party shifts in the vote, which did not happen in the national elections because of stronger ideological attachments. This time around, the economy prevailed over identity."

About 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 neighbourhood administrations.

Turnout was about 76%, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency, compared to 87% last year.

Analysts said a strong showing for Mr Erdogan's party would have hardened his resolve to usher in a new constitution - one that would reflect his conservative values and allow him to rule beyond 2028 when his current term ends.

Mr Erdogan, who has presided over Turkey for more than two decades - as prime minister since 2003 and president since 2014 - has been advocating for a new constitution that would put family values at the forefront.

Some 594,000 security personnel were on duty across the country to ensure the vote goes smoothly.

Nevertheless, one person was killed and 11 others hurt in the city of Diyarbakir where a dispute over the election of a neighbourhood administrator turned violent, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in