Erdogan’s party loses Ankara in local polls
ANKARA: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suffered a severe setback as his ruling AK Party lost control of the capital Ankara for the first time in a local election and he appeared to concede defeat in the country’s largest city, Istanbul.
Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics since coming to power 16 years ago and ruled his country with an ever tighter grip, campaigned relentlessly for two months ahead of Sunday’s vote.
But his daily rallies and overwhelmingly supportive media coverage failed to win over the country’s capital or secure a definitive result in Istanbul, as Turkey’s tip toward economic recession weighed heavily on voters.
Broadcasters said opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Mansur Yavas had won a clear victory in Ankara, but the vote count in Istanbul was so tight that both parties declared the narrowest of victories.
“The people have voted in favour of democracy, they have chosen democracy,” opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said, declaring that his secularist CHP had taken Ankara and Istanbul from the AK Party and held its Aegean coastal stronghold of Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city,
Defeat for Erdogan’s Islamistrooted party in Ankara was a significant blow. Losing Istanbul, where he launched his political career and served as mayor in the 1990s, would be an even greater symbolic shock and a broader sign of dwindling support.
In a speech to supporters here, Erdogan pledged that Turkey would now focus on its troubled economy in the run-up to national elections in 2023.
“We have a long period ahead where we will carry out economic reforms without compromising on the rules of the free-market economy.”