Erdogan suffers major setbacks in local elections

Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party was on track on Monday to lose control of Turkey’s two biggest cities, Istanbul and Ankara, in a stunning local election setback that could complicate the president’s plans to combat recession.
While official vote tallies and Turkish broadcasters put the main opposition Republican People’s Party candidates ahead in both cities, the Islamist-rooted AKP promised appeals that could delay the final results for days.
Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics since sweeping to power 16 years ago and has ruled with an ever tighter grip, campaigned relentlessly for two months ahead of Sunday’s vote, which he described as a ‘matter of survival’ for Turkey.
But his daily rallies and overwhelmingly supportive media coverage failed to win over many urban voters, as last year’s punishing currency crisis weighed heavily on Turks.
‘The people have voted in favour of democracy, they have chosen democracy,’ said opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, whose secularist CHP also held its Aegean coastal stronghold of Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city.
The AKP and its Islamist predecessor have controlled Istanbul and the capital Ankara for 25 years. The results, which were still being tallied on Monday evening, would likely bring personnel changes at the highest ranks of government, according to sources inside and close to the AKP.
In Istanbul, the country’s largest city and economic hub, the CHP mayoral candidate was more than 22,000 votes ahead of his AKP opponent as the last votes were being counted, according to the country’s electoral board.
Yet the AKP also claimed victory, saying it had ‘plenty of’ evidence of voting irregularities.
In Ankara, Turkish broadcasters said the CHP candidate had won a clear victory. But the AKP said it would appeal and expected to shift the outcome in its favour.
Erdogan’s ruling alliance, including the nationalist MHP, captured 51.7 per cent of the nationwide vote, according to state-owned Anadolu news agency. Turnout was a very high 84.5 per cent.
But the loss of Istanbul - if confirmed - would be especially significant as Erdogan served as as the city’s mayor in the 1990s.
The Turkish lira, which swung wildly https://tmsnrt.rs/2CEaO11 in the week ahead of the elections, echoing last year’s currency crisis, initially weakened on Monday as much as 2.5 percent before recovering.
An AKP official and a source close to the party each predicted a cabinet shuffle or other changes among those around Erdogan.
‘There will certainly be changes in some places, such as Erdogan’s close circle in the party and the cabinet,’ said the official, who requested anonymity. ‘Markets expect that there will be a change in the cabinet. This makes a change necessary.’

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net