Erdogan’s opposition party wins local elections in main Turkish cities

Opposition supporters celebrating in Istanbul and other cities as the scale of victory became clear on March 31, 2024 - BBC
Opposition supporters celebrating in Istanbul and other cities as the scale of victory became clear on March 31, 2024 - BBC

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Turkey’s main opposition party claimed on Sunday big election victories in the main cities of Istanbul and Ankara.

The results are a significant blow for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, Ekrem Imamoglu, who first won Istanbul in 2019, scored a second victory for the secular opposition CHP.

Imamoglu was on course to win more than 50 percent of the vote, defeating the president’s AK Party candidate by more than 11 points and almost one million votes.

In the capital Ankara, opposition mayor Mansur Yavas was so far ahead of his rival on 60 percent.

Significantly, the CHP was also on course to win in many of Turkey’s other big cities, including Izmir and Bursa, Adana and the resort of Antalya.

Erdogan told his supporters in Ankara it would mark “not an end for us but rather a turning point”.

By Emma Jamal