As of: March 31, 2024, 9:14 p.m
By: Mark Stoffers
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According to initial results and projections, Istanbul and other major cities appear to be lost to Erdogan. The AKP suffers losses in the Turkish elections.
Istanbul – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party is threatened with a severe setback according to preliminary unofficial results in the local elections in Turkey. A bitter defeat for Erdogan's party is looming, especially in the metropolis of Istanbul with a population of millions.
But the preliminary results and projections also show a trend elsewhere that Erdogan probably doesn't like. The Turkish president's party is also losing support elsewhere, meaning that there are signs of a surprise across the country based on the current preliminary results of the Turkish elections.
Results of the Turkish elections: bitter defeat for Erdogan – CHP ahead of AKP
After 34 percent of the votes were counted, the CHP is also ahead of the AKP nationwide in local elections. In Bursa, the opposition party continues to expand its lead. There are signs of a change of government there for the first time in 20 years. “It is admirable that the results from the districts that did not vote for us in 2019 are very good,” CHP candidate Mustafa Bozbey told Turkish media in Bursa.
The current nationwide results of the local elections in Turkey at a glance
Political party |
Result in percent |
|---|---|
CHP |
38.90 |
ACP |
37.40 |
DEM Parti (formerly HDP) |
5.62 |
Yenid Refah Partisi |
4.67 |
As of: 8:30 p.m |
Results of the local elections in Turkey: Initial projections show setbacks for Erdogan in Istanbul
In particular, the recapture of Istanbul, which was the declared goal of Erdogan's party in the local elections in Turkey, seems to be more than just hanging in the balance, according to projections and preliminary results. After a good 40 percent of the votes were counted, incumbent Ekrem Imamoglu of the largest opposition party CHP received around 50 percent in the mayoral election, according to the state news agency Anadolu.
His challenger, the candidate of the Islamic conservative AKP, Murat Kurum, received 41.3 percent of the vote. The opposition-affiliated news agency Anka saw Imamoglu at around 57 percent after counting more than half of the votes.
Results and projections of the Turkish elections: Erdogan's party will probably also lose in Ankara and Izmir
According to preliminary results and projections, an even clearer success for the CHP appears to be emerging in the capital Ankara. The lead there is currently apparently around 20 percentage points. After counting around 20 percent of the votes, 55 percent went to CHP Mayor Mansur Yavaz. His AKP opponent was only able to collect 35 percent of the votes counted so far.
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The CHP was also able to clearly assert itself in Izmir, the country's third largest city with over a million inhabitants. Izmir is traditionally a CHP stronghold. The opposition is also probably ahead in the tourist hotspot of Antalya and in Adana in the southeast of the country. Not entirely surprising results in the Turkish elections. What was much more surprising, however, was that the CHP has a very good chance of winning the mayor's office in the western Turkish industrial city of Bursa, which was previously governed by an AKP politician, in Sunday's election.
New projections also show the CHP in the lead in Bursa. The opposition party there has 38.9 percent. The AKP, which has previously ruled the metropolis with more than three million inhabitants, is at 37.4 percent.
Projections and results of the local elections in Turkey: AKP in the lead – setbacks for Erdogan
Nationwide, Erdogan's AKP was ahead of the CHP. It led in 46 of the 81 provinces, but according to previous projections and preliminary results of the counts on Sunday evening, it suffered heavy losses compared to the 2019 local elections.
The election took place against the backdrop of an increasingly difficult economic situation. Inflation, which reached 67 percent in February, is sapping people's purchasing power. Apartment rents, energy costs and even basic foodstuffs have become unaffordable for many people.
Erdogan's interference in monetary policy is considered one of the causes of the crisis: in order to stimulate the economy with cheap loans, the Turkish central bank had to keep interest rates low for years on Erdogan's instructions. It was only last summer that Erdogan turned things around and gave the central bank free rein to raise interest rates. Since then, the key interest rate has risen from eight to 50 percent.
Elections in Turkey: Projections and results indicate a significant loss of votes for Erdogan
Preliminary unofficial results indicated a nationwide loss of votes for the AKP compared to the results of the 2019 local elections. The first official results are expected later in the evening. Accusations of election manipulation were particularly loud in Kurdish cities. Erdogan apparently had soldiers vote there in the local elections.
Around 61 million people in 81 provinces were called upon to elect mayors, municipal councilors and other local politicians. A good ten months after Erdogan's re-election, the vote is seen as a mood test for the president and his AKP. (
with material from dpa
)