Turkey was at a “turning point” on Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said following the municipal elections in which the opposition, challenging his two-decade rule, secured victories in Istanbul, the country’s emblematic megacity, as well as other major cities.
Near-final results showed the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) wrestling the main cities and Anatolian provinces that were strongholds for Erdogan’s Islamic conservative AKP party.
Top urban centers Istanbul, capital Ankara, Adana, Bursa and Antalya were among municipalities to elect CHP mayors Sunday, less than a year after the knockback of a failed presidential challenge last May.
Observers called it Erdogan’s worst election defeat since his party took power in 2002.
Many blamed inflation running at 67 percent and a crashing devaluation of the lira currency over the past year.
Pro-government dailies Hurriyet and Yeni Safah on Monday highlighted the voters’ “message” to incumbents.
Erdogan himself acknowledged a “turning point” and vowed to “respect the decision of the nation”.
Secular nationalist daily Sozcu, which opposes Erdogan, splashed “revolution at the ballot box” across its front page, while major opposition paper Cumhuriyet hailed a “historic victory”.
Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the opposition’s champion since taking the mayor’s seat in Istanbul five years ago in a hard-fought battle, now looks set for a presidential run in 2028.
