Turkey election: Erdogan disputes results in major cities

Share

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party is contesting the slim opposition victory in the country’s biggest city, Istanbul.

 

Sunday’s municipal elections also delivered opposition CHP wins in the capital, Ankara, and in Izmir.

 

The AKP alleges irregularities, and is challenging the results in every Istanbul district. Officially the CHP is ahead by 25,000 votes in the city.

 

Giant AKP victory posters have gone up in Istanbul.

 

The secularist CHP (Republican People’s Party) condemned that move, accusing the Islamist-rooted AKP of trying to steal the result.

 

The AKP is also contesting the CHP victory in Ankara.

 

Parts of the largely government-controlled media are reporting allegations that stolen ballots hindered the party’s performance.

 

In the past, Turkish opposition parties have failed to mount a successful challenge to election results.

 

Nationwide, an AKP-led alliance won 51.6% of the vote.

 

But Istanbul has been in the hands of parties linked to Mr Erdogan since 1994, when he was elected the city’s mayor.

 

The BBC’s Mark Lowen in Istanbul says losing major cities is a significant blow to Mr Erdogan, breaking his image of invincibility.

 

The elections, considered a verdict on Mr Erdogan’s 16-year rule, were held during an economic downturn.

 

The Turkish lira has been losing value recently and the economy went into recession in the last three months of 2018. Inflation jumped to 20% last year and unemployment has risen too.

 

Our correspondent says Mr Erdogan turned this poll into, in effect, a referendum on himself. But now an opposition long seen as hopelessly divided has got a new lease of life.

 

Swathes of Turkey still adore Mr Erdogan, but the half of the country that detests its polarising president are starting to believe he is beatable, Mark Lowen says.