Erdgoan Acknowledges Turning Point After Local Polls Setbacks

INA-  sources

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday conceded that results from local polls had marked a turning point for his political party but vowed to respect the decision of the nation.
Speaking to the crowd from the headquarters of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) he said unfortunately, his party could not obtain the results that it wanted.
According to the preliminary results, Turkiye’s main opposition party retained its control over all major cities of the country and made huge gains elsewhere in local polls.

The development is in a major blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was looking to retake control of those urban areas.

With more than 80 percent of ballot counted, current Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was leading by a big margin. While Mansur Yavas, the mayor of the Ankara, retained his seat.

Overall, the CHP clinched the municipalities of 36 of Turkiye’s 81 provinces, according to Turkish media, making gains into many strongholds of Erdogan’s party.

It gained 37 percent of the votes across the country, compared to 36 percent for the president’s party, marking the CHP’s greatest electoral victory ever since Erdogan came into.

The poll was seen as a gage of Erdogan’s popularity as he sought to retake the control of key urban areas, he lost to the opposition in elections five years ago.

Istanbul was the main battleground for the 70-year-old Turkish president, a city of 16 million people and economic hub of the country.

Poll results a boost to the opposition
The results gave a boost to the opposition, which was united after a defeat to Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in last year’s presidential and parliamentary polls.

Some 61 million people, were eligible to cast votes for all metropolitan municipalities, town and district mayorships as well as neighborhood areas.

According to the state media the turnout stood at 76 percent, as compared to 87 percent last year.


source: WE NEWS