Especially in Istanbul, the outcome of the local election was very close: the preliminary result is that the center-left opposition party CHP there has a lead of about 24,000 votes. This would be the CHP politician Ekrem Imamoglu new mayor. However, the AKP now wants to have all 39 electoral districts re-counted. Her candidate, the country’s former prime minister, Binali Yildirim, had claimed the victory first, but then acknowledged his defeat. However, with the note that the review was still ongoing.
Hundreds of thousands of invalid votes
The provincial leader of the AKP, Bayram Senocak, criticized the high number of invalid votes. In Istanbul alone, it should be 290,000. Above all, the ruling party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to have these invalid ballots checked. The CNN Türk reported that the electoral authority would announce the final results in ten days. Istanbul CHP candidate Imamoglu demanded that the complaints be dealt with within a week: „If it takes longer, things start to stink,“ he warned.
Memo for the AKP in Turkish metropolises
For Erdogan, especially the loss of mayor post in Istanbul would be a bitter defeat. He was mayor there himself and comes from the working-class district Kasimpasa. Islamic-conservative mayors had ruled the city, which is considered the hub of the economy, for more than 20 years. The capital Ankara had lost the AKP even more significantly. As the state news agency Anadolu reported, the party has also requested a review there.
On Sunday, millions of people in 81 provinces had appointed their mayors, provincial councilors and other local officials. Overall, the AKP emerged as the strongest party to the election. In the big cities, however, it lost some of its popularity.
