Local elections in Turkey witness the victory of the opposition mayors of Istanbul and Ankara, Ekrem Imamoglu and Mansur Yavaş, over candidates supported by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had already lost in the two largest Turkish cities in consultations five years ago. With nearly 65% of the votes counted, İmamoğlu leads in Istanbul with 50.2% of the vote, while the Erdogan-backed challenger, Murat Kurum, remains stuck at 41%. In the capital, Yavaş leads the race with 58.5% of the votes, while Erdogan's candidate received 33% after 38% of the votes were counted.
He added, “Today, voters made a very important decision. They decided to establish a new policy in Turkey.” This was stated by Ozgur Ozil, secretary of the main opposition Republican People's Party, whose mayors in Istanbul and Ankara maintained control of the two cities in local elections, defeating candidates backed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ozil added in a speech broadcast on television, “The Republican People's Party has achieved a historic result and decided how to govern our country and our municipalities.”
video Administrative elections in Türkiye and Erdogan casts his vote in Istanbul
“We won.” This was stated by Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul who received more than 50% of the votes after counting more than 85% of the votes, and was reconfirmed as first citizen, thus defeating Murat Kurum, the candidate supported by Turkish President Recep Tayyip. Erdogan is sticking to 40%. “The people of Istanbul have given us power,” Imamoglu said when announcing his victory during a speech at the headquarters of the main opposition Republican People’s Party in Istanbul. “You have opened the door to the future,” Imamoglu said, thanking voters and criticizing the “authoritarian regime” of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
video Administrative elections in Türkiye and the anti-Erdogan mayor casts his vote in Istanbul
Erdogan: We did not get what we wanted in the vote
He added, “Unfortunately, we were not able to achieve the result we wanted in the elections.” This came during a speech delivered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from the headquarters of the Justice and Development Party in Ankara, and broadcast on state television TRT. Erdogan admitted defeat, after his party's candidates lost in Ankara, Istanbul, and in all major cities in the country. The Turkish President added: “God willing, we will continue on our path to victory.”
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