Türkiye’s Opposition Poised to Retain Key Cities After Local Elections

Türkiye’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), appears set to retain control over key cities following recent local elections, including the nation’s largest city, Istanbul, and the capital, Ankara, according to initial results on Sunday.

With the majority of votes counted, Ekrem Imamoglu, the incumbent mayor of Istanbul representing the CHP, led the mayoral race by a significant margin of 10 percentage points. The CHP also retained Ankara and secured 15 additional mayoral seats in cities nationwide, as reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency.

In total, the CHP won municipalities in 36 of Türkiye’s 81 provinces and garnered 37 percent of the votes nationwide. This marks the CHP’s most substantial electoral victory since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power two decades ago. Comparatively, Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) received 36 percent of the votes.

President Erdogan acknowledged the electoral setback in a late-night address at AKP headquarters in Ankara, calling the results a “turning point.” He stated that his alliance would take steps to address the voters’ message, including continuing with an economic program initiated last year aimed at combating inflation.

Sunday’s elections saw 61 million eligible voters, including 1 million first-time voters, choosing provincial mayors, council members, and other local officials. The nationwide local elections served as a barometer of Erdogan’s popularity as he sought to regain control of key urban areas lost to the opposition in elections five years prior.

Ekrem Imamoglu’s victory in Istanbul is particularly significant. In 2019, he dealt Erdogan a sharp electoral blow by ending 25 years of AKP and its Islamist predecessors’ rule in the city, including Erdogan’s own tenure as mayor in the 1990s. The CHP also won control of Ankara in that election.

These results provide a boost for the opposition, which had been left divided and demoralized after the 2023 defeat to Erdogan and the AKP. An Imamoglu victory positions him as a potential challenger to Erdogan’s ruling AKP in the next presidential election scheduled for 2028.

Erdogan had secured reelection and a parliamentary majority with his nationalist allies earlier in 2023, but Sunday’s local election results indicate shifting political dynamics within Türkiye.

Political analysts suggest that the CHP’s success in these local elections reflects growing public concern over economic issues, including inflation, and a desire for change in urban governance.