After almost 40 percent of the votes were counted, the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, got around 50 percent, while his main rival Murat Kurum, supported by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had 41.3 percent. This is reported by the Turkish news agency Anadolu. “We are very pleased with the current picture,” said Imamoglu. He is considered a possible challenger to Erdogan in the next presidential election.
In the capital Ankara, the incumbent and CHP candidate Mansur Yavas has already declared himself the winner of the election based on initial counting results. The elections are seen as an important test of sentiment. The first official results were expected later in the evening.
Unofficial results showed Erdogan’s AKP headed for defeat in the five most populous cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, according to Anadolu. Accordingly, the AKP is likely to have lost votes nationwide compared to the 2019 local elections. In 2019, the AKP received 44 percent of the votes, and after around a third of the votes were counted, it was with 37 percent on Sunday evening, behind the CHP with 39 percent.
61 million people called to vote
Around 61 million people in 81 provinces were called upon to elect mayors, municipal councilors and other local politicians. Around ten months after Erdogan’s re-election, it was eagerly awaited whether the AKP would succeed in winning back the metropolises of Istanbul and the capital Ankara.
IMAGO/SOPA Images/Now Turhan Mansur Yavas at the steam gate
Erdogan’s rise began in Istanbul
Imamoglu won the 2019 election in Istanbul against the AKP. The AKP had the election canceled at the time. In the second round, Imamoglu won by an even larger margin – the success is considered the most serious setback in Erdogan’s political career. CHP candidates also won the election in Ankara and Izmir.
Erdogan’s political rise began in Istanbul when he was elected mayor in 1994. When he cast his vote on Sunday, Erdogan said he hoped the election would mark the beginning of a “new era”. 20 percent of all votes are cast in Istanbul.
The national election is taking place under difficult circumstances: many people are struggling with high inflation, rising food prices and rents are making life difficult for them. According to a survey, many young people would like to leave the country. The opposition, which ran as an alliance in the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2023, is considered divided and is no longer running as a united body.
Deaths in incidents
In the southeast of the country, deadly incidents marred the vote. Two people were killed in violent clashes. Disputes surrounding the election have escalated in the Kurdish metropolis of Diyarbakir as well as in the province of Siirt, the Anadolu news agency reported. Eleven people were injured in Diyarbakir and four in Siirt.
During the arguments, those involved attacked each other with firearms, stones and sticks. The pro-Kurdish party DEM (formerly HDP), which has strong support in the southeast, said when asked that it was investigating the incident in Diyarbakir.