Turkey’s main opposition party made significant gains in the country’s urban areas in Sunday’s local elections, dealing a blow to longtime President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who wants to regain control of those regions.
The Republican People’s Party (CHP) won nearly half of Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan greets supporters at a campaign rally for his party’s Istanbul mayoral candidate Murat Kurum on March 29, 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Bulak Kara/Getty Images)
Incumbent Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, from the CHP, had a wide lead in Turkey’s largest city and economic hub, with more than 80% of votes cast.
According to the results, Ankara’s mayor, Mansour Yabas, retained his seat with a staggering 25-point lead over his challenger.
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Overall, the CHP won 37% of the national vote, and the president’s party received 36% of the vote, making it the CHP’s biggest electoral victory since Erdogan came to power two decades ago.
Supporters of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) gather in front of City Hall in Ankara on Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Ali Unal)
The vote was a key test of Erdogan’s popularity as he seeks to regain control of major cities won by the opposition in elections five years ago. The CHP’s victories in Ankara and Istanbul in 2019 shattered Erdogan’s aura of invincibility.
The 70-year-old Turkish president’s main battleground has been Istanbul, the city of 16 million where he was born and raised and where he began his political career as mayor in 1994.
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The result was a boost for the opposition, which was fragmented and demoralized after losing last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Islamist-oriented Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
