Last Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered its most severe electoral loss since 2002. In nationwide local elections, the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) won 35 out of 81 municipalities, including mayoral victories in five largest cities: Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, and Antalya. This can be seen as a “historic victory,” with CHP’s best showing since the 1977 general elections. Ekrem Imamoğlu, who first won Istanbul in 2019, scored a second victory for the CHP. Likewise in the capital city Ankara, opposition mayor Mansur Yavaş declared victory. The CHP won in Izmir, Adana and Antalya. Significantly it also gained control of Turkey’s fourth-biggest city Balıkesir and Bursa as well as Adıyaman,which hit hard by the earthquake last year.
The local races highlighted growing public discontent with the AKP. “Those who do not understand the nation’s message will eventually lose,” Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu told thousands of supporters after vote counts revealed that he had won Istanbul by more than 1 million votes.
According to analysts, the “disastrous” results for AKP are all about inflation. The election outcome can be seen as a big success for the chairman of the CHP, Özgur Özel, who praised the electorate for deciding to change the face of Türkiye to open the door to a new political climate.