Erdoğan concedes ‘turning point’ for party after local elections defeat

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday acknowledged that Sunday’s results from local elections had marked a “turning point” for his party but promised to “respect the decision of the nation” after the opposition fighting his two-decade rule swept the elections in İstanbul, the country’s emblematic megapolis, and other major cities.

Near-final results showed the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) winning the main cities and Anatolian provinces that were strongholds for Erdoğan’s Islamic conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Top urban centers İstanbul, Ankara, Adana, Bursa and Antalya were among municipalities to elect CHP mayors on Sunday, less than a year after the knock-back of a failed presidential challenge last May.

Observers called it Erdoğan’s worst election defeat since his party took power in 2002.

Many blamed inflation running at 67 percent and a significant loss in value of the lira over the past year.

Pro-government dailies Hürriyet and Yeni Şafak on Monday highlighted the voters’ “message” to incumbents.

The result “can only be explained by the economy,” wrote Abdulkadir Selvi, a commentator for the pro-government Hürriyet daily, seen as close to the Erdoğan camp.

“A new wind has blown” through Turkey, and the government now faces “a new political equation,” he added.

Erdoğan himself acknowledged a “turning point” and vowed to “respect the decision of the nation.”

‘Revolution at the ballot box’

The secular nationalist Sözcü daily, which opposes Erdoğan, splashed “revolution at the ballot box” across its front page, while major opposition paper Cumhuriyet hailed a “historic victory.”

Victory for the CHP may have been expected in the economic and political capitals of İstanbul and Ankara, which they claimed in 2019, but observers saw the broader anti-Erdoğan surge as the strongest in almost 50 years, redrawing the electoral map.

İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the opposition’s champion since taking the mayor’s seat in İstanbul five years ago in a hard-fought battle, now looks set for a presidential run in 2028.

The vote “marks the end of democratic erosion in Turkey and the resurgence of democracy,” İmamoğlu told supporters overnight, saying his victory had “immense significance.”

In Ankara, CHP Mayor Mansur Yavaş also bolstered his standing, topping his AKP opponent.

“We’re going to see a race between İmamoğlu and Yavaş” for leadership, Hürriyet commentator Selvi wrote.

“İmamoğlu is Erdoğan’s opponent in the country’s next national elections,” Soner Cağaptay of The Washington Institute posted on X.

The İstanbul mayor “has a chance to become Turkey’s president. … Turkey never fails to surprise – [the] game is on,” he added.

Erdoğan, who came to power as prime minister in 2003 before becoming president in 2014, said in early March that these municipal elections would be his last.

The 70-year-old leader told dismayed supporters overnight that they “must not waste” the four years remaining before the next presidential vote.

© Agence France-Presse