Istanbul’s mayor, the opposition’s Ekrem Imamoglu, claimed re-election with nearly all ballot boxes opened in Turkey’s largest city.
It wasn’t the only local election night success for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), as it also claimed victories in the capital Ankara and Turkey’s third largest city Izmir, as well as in the southern city of Antalya.
The CHP secured the highest number of mayoral seats in 81 cities according to unofficial preliminary results shared by state news agency Anadolu in a massive blow for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).
“Tonight, 16 million Istanbul citizens sent a message to both our rivals and the president,” the incumbent mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu told supporters late on Sunday (March 31). “Thank you Istanbul,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Teşekkürler İstanbul pic.twitter.com/9OhC8CYNzV
Advertisement— Ekrem İmamoğlu (@ekrem_imamoglu) March 31, 2024
Millions of Turks cast their vote to elect mayors and administrators in local elections on Sunday. The vote gauged Erdogan’s popularity as his ruling party tries to win back key cities.
The main battleground for the Turkish president was Istanbul, where he was born and raised and where he began his political career as mayor in 1994.
Opposition upbeat after partial results
“We are in first position with a lead of more than a million votes … We have won the election,” Imamoglu told reporters at the CHP’s Istanbul headquarters.
Murat Kurum, the candidate AKP, which rules nationally, had around 40%, according to Anadolu Agency.
Mansur Yavas, the mayor of the capital, Ankara, retained his seat with a stunning 25-point difference over his AKP challenger, the results indicated. Yavas declared victory, saying, “the elections are over, we will continue to serve Ankara”.
The CHP was also ahead in Turkey’s third-largest city, Izmir and looked to be leading in 36 of the country’s 81 provinces, according to the preliminary results reported by state broadcaster TRT.
The CHP was leading with 37.32% with 90% of all ballot boxes opened across all provinces, according to Anadolu Agency. The AKP had 35.78%, it said.
This means the CHP led nationwide by almost 1% of the votes, a first in 35 years.
Erdogan says ‘self-criticism’ required
Speaking to supporters at his party headquarters in Ankara, Erdogan admitted the outcome was a setback for his AK party.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to achieve the result we desired and hoped for in the local election test,” Erdogan said.
“We will honestly assess the results of the elections … and courageously exercise self-criticism,” the 70-year-old added.
The main battleground for Turkish President Erdogan was Istanbul, where he began his political career as mayor in 1994. His party lost to the CHP in the city. Photo: X/@RTErdogan.
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.
Anadolu Agency reported that voter turnout was around 76%.
Repeat of 2019 vote
In 2019, the CHP won in Istanbul and Ankara with the ruling party demanding a rerun of the Istanbul vote, claiming there had been irregularities. The CHP also managed to win the rerun in the key battleground city.
Earlier this month, Erdogan – who himself was mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998 – said the municipal elections would be his last. He has been in power since 2003 when he was elected prime minister and then president in 2014.
In 2017, a constitutional change abolished the office of prime minister, giving Erdogan full executive power.
In May last year, Erdogan fell short of a majority of votes in the first round of presidential elections. In 2014 and 2018, he won outright and there was no runoff vote.
This article was originally published in DW.
