According to the partial results, after counting more than 71 percent of the votes, the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, won re-election in the same city, where he obtained 50.4 percent, compared to 40.9 percent for his competitor.
President Erdogan and the AKP lost in the country's two main cities, Istanbul and Ankara.
In Ankara, in the country's capital, the current president of the chamber, Mansur Yavaş, is also expected to be reappointed. He currently receives 58.6 percent of the votes, compared to 33.6 percent for his main competitor.
“The elections are over, and we will continue to serve Ankara and its six million people without discrimination,” Mansur Yavaş said in a speech to his supporters in which he announced his victory on Sunday.
Both mayors belong to the Republican People's Party, the main opposition party that opposes President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party.
The result in the two main cities in Turkey represents a setback for the head of state, after significant participation in the campaign, especially in Istanbul, where Erdogan himself was president of the chamber at the beginning of his political career.
In early March, Erdogan acknowledged, for the first time, the end of his presidential term, stressing that these local elections would be his “last” elections. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been President of Turkey for ten years, and before that he was Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003.
William Shakespeare is a journalist and feature writer specialising in culture, entertainment, history, and current affairs. With a keen eye for storytelling and analysis, he produces informative articles that help readers understand the people, ideas, and events influencing modern life.
