Turkish President’s Party, Recep Tayyip ErdoğanIslamist akpThe CHP, despite a clear lead over the Social Democratic Party, has lost today’s municipal elections and does not appear to be able to recapture Istanbul.
With 40% of votes counted in Istanbul, The current mayor, Social Democrat Ekrem Imamoglu, leads by 8 points over his opponent, former AKP minister Murat Kurum, and exceeds 50%.
Besides, With 30% of ballots counted nationwide, the CHP leads the count in 36 provinces, compared to 23 for the AKP.In a striking reversal from the situation over the past 15 years, when Erdogan’s party dominated much of the map, the CHP was limited to the western border and the Mediterranean coast.
The Social Democratic Party is also ahead in some regions of Anatolia, which was until now the AKP’s stronghold, and its lead in the capital Ankara is more than 20 points.
The radical Islamist party Yeniden Refa has also “stolen” votes from the AKP, with which it was in alliance in the last elections and, presumably, rules two provinces in central and southern Anatolia.
The leftist and pro-Kurdish DEM, formerly the HDP, holds on to its fiefdom in southeastern TurkeyIt leads the count in 11 provinces where it has a Kurdish majority, with solid gains in all of them.
In the total number of votes, the CHP is slightly ahead of the AKP for the first time in two decades, after trailing Erdogan’s party by about 15 points in the last two municipal elections.
in a country facing Official inflation 67% already in 12 months devaluation of your currency (ranging from 19 to 31 pounds per dollar a year), voters were clearly tempted to give an advantage to the state’s opponents.
For observers, a traditionally high level of participation would signal their support for the government.
The same thing will happen in Istanbul if voters find that the trend continues and Imamoglu wins.
,If he succeeds in returning Istanbul and Ankara, Erdogan would have an incentive to amend the constitution to represent himself in 2028.″, predicts Bayram Balci, a researcher at the Center for International Studies and Research (Série)-Sciences-PO in Paris.
“But if Imamoglu manages to hold on, he will have won within the opposition,” he highlighted.
(with EFE information)