The opposition has retained Istanbul and Ankara

Municipal elections are a victory for Turkey’s opposition. According to provisional official results after 79% of ballots were counted, opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu won 50.5% of the vote in Istanbul, while Murat Kurum, a former minister in Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, won 40.7%.

“We are in first place with a lead of over a million votes (…) we won the election”

Ekrem Imamoglu said.

In Ankara, the political capital, Mansur Yavas, another CHP heavyweight, was also heading for a comfortable re-election, with 56.3% of the vote after 12.4% of ballot boxes were counted. “The elections are over, we will continue to serve Ankara and (its) six million residents without discrimination”He rejoiced.

Defeat of Recep Tayyip Erdogan

During these municipal elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hoped that his party would recover these two cities that it lost in 2019.

According to provisional results published by the state news agency Anadolu, the CHP is also leading in several major Turkish cities such as Izmir, Bursa, Antalya and Adana.

Nationally, the CHP leads with 39% of the vote, the first in 35 years, according to provisional results. “Voters chose to change the face of Turkey”

After 22 years of dominance by the Islamo-conservative AKP party, the leader of the main Turkish opposition party (CHP, Social-Democracy) said on the eve of municipal elections. “They wanted to open the door to a new political environment in our country.”Ozgur Ozel added

The vote was marked by violence across the country, with at least three deaths.