Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared victory in municipal elections but the opposition’s success in key cities dealt a significant blow to his party’s dominance. The ruling party lost the capital, Ankara, and the race for Istanbul mayor was still too close to call early Monday.
The main opposition party winning the race for metropolitan mayor in Ankara marks a symbolic shift. The capital city was held by Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its Islamic-oriented predecessor for 25 years.
Over 43 million out of 57 million eligible voters cast their votes in Sunday's elections, with turnout registered as 83.99%. According to official data, 1,395,233 votes were deemed invalid, making up 3.2% of the total, Daily Sabah reported.
While the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) mayoral candidate Binali Yıldırım won 4,111,254 votes in Istanbul, main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamoğlu obtained 4,107,313 votes.
In Ankara 3,089,645 out of 3,925,129 eligible voters cast their ballots. CHP's candidate Mansur Yavaş won with 50.62% of the votes, while AK Party's candidate Mehmet Özhaseki received 47.2%.
In Iğdır, 45,818 out of 56,116 eligible voters participated and 1,524 votes were deemed invalid. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) won 48.89% of the votes in Iğdır, while the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) candidate Yaşar Akkuş obtained 50.12%.
