Turkish voters punish Erdogan in local elections | REUTERS
Turks dealt President Erdogan and his party their biggest electoral blow in more than two decades in nationwide local voting that reasserted the opposition as a political force. #News #turkey #erdogan #elections #Reuters #Newsfeed
Turkey's opposition claimed major victories in nationwide local elections on Sunday.
Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu cruised to re-election, handily beating a candidate
from President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party.
İmamoğlu's Republican People's Party, or CHP, also notched wins in the capital Ankara
and nine other mayoral seats in large cities.
President Erdogan has ruled Turkey for nearly two decades, and polls had predicted a tight
contest in Istanbul and possible CHP losses across the country.
But analysts said Erdogan and the AKP fared worse than polls predicted, due to soaring
inflation, dissatisfied Islamist voters and, in Istanbul, İmamoğlu's appeal beyond the
CHP's secular base.
Sunday's results reinforced İmamoğlu's reputation as a potential presidential rival to Erdogan.
In Istanbul, which had opened nearly 80 percent of ballot boxes, İmamoğlu had just over 50
percent support, compared with just over 40 percent for the AKP challenger, a former minister
in Erdogan's national government.