Turkey's main opposition party retained its control over key cities and made huge gains elsewhere in local elections on Sunday, March 31, preliminary results showed, in a major upset to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had set his sights on retaking control of those urban areas.
The mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) announced he had been re-elected there. "We are in first position with a lead of more than a million votes ... We have won the election," he told reporters, adding that 96% of ballot boxes had been opened. The city topped the list of targets for President President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP after losing it to Imamoglu in 2019.
The main Turkish opposition party also claimed victory in the mayoral race in the capital Ankara. Mayor Mansur Yavas of the Republican People's Party (CHP) said "the elections are over, we will continue to serve Ankara". Yavas was leading with 58.6% of the vote to 33.5% for his opponent from the country's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), from 46.4% of ballot boxes opened.
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 Erdogan's aura of invincibility.
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 demoralized after a defeat to 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 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, Ulgen said. "Turnout was relatively low compared to past elections," he said. "There were cross-party shifts in the vote, which did not happen in the nationals elections because of stronger ideological attachments. This time around the economy prevailed over identity."
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 was around 76%, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency, compared to 87% last year.