The leader of the Republican People's Party, Turkey's main opposition party, stressed that voters “chose to change the face” of the country, after 22 years of AKP rule, taking into account the partial results of the municipal elections that took place on Sunday.
Ozgur Ozil, whose party is on the verge of victory in major Turkish cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, added, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse, “They wanted to open the door to a new political climate in our country.”
In Ankara, the country's capital, the current mayor, Mansur Yavaş, announced his victory in today's elections, in front of a celebratory crowd, Agence France-Presse found at the scene.
The elected leader of the Republican People's Party promised that “the elections are over, and we will continue to serve Ankara and its six million residents without discrimination.”
As vote counting continues, the Republican People's Party (social-democratic and nationalist) has a clear advantage over the Justice and Development Party (AKP, Islamist conservative), led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the official, still partial, results of today's municipal elections. . .
With the results announced in 60.34% of opinion polls, the Republican People's Party obtained 37.46% of the votes, and the Justice and Development Party obtained 36.54%, and was victorious in the country's main cities, such as Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir.
The map of municipalities has changed in recent decades in Turkey, with the Justice and Development Party dominating the center and north of the country, while the main competitor – the Republican People's Party – dominates the western part and the Mediterranean.
In the last municipal elections, in 2019, the Justice and Development Party won 740 municipalities compared to 240 for its competitor, but the decisive victories were concentrated in the regions with the largest population and economic weight, according to the Spanish News Agency.
The CHP's takeover of the city councils of Istanbul and Ankara in 2019 was a serious setback for Erdogan, who had focused his political rhetoric on reclaiming Istanbul.
In statements on March 8, Erdogan acknowledged for the first time the end of his power, stressing that the municipal elections on March 31 would be his last.
Istanbul, with a population of 16 million, is the financial, social and cultural engine of Turkey, as well as having symbolic value: between 1994 and 1994 Erdogan was president of the city council, and it was in this great city that he began his political career, in a state of something turbulent.
About 61.4 million voters were invited to the polls in Turkey's 81 provinces, 30 of which are classified as “metropolitan,” meaning that the mayor of the provincial capital is the one who governs the destinies of the entire province, which gives it great political importance.
The news was updated at 22.00.
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