ANKARA, 1 April: In local elections in Turkey on Sunday, the Turks dealt a big blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party by giving edge to Akram Imamoglu for the mayorship of Istanbul.
Imamoglu and his party lead in the largest Turkish city, Istanbul, with a 10 percent edge in the key city. The results sounded a wake-up call for Erdogan and his AK Party’s two-decade rule.
Analysts say, this defeat for Erdogan and his party is due to inflation, the distrust of Islamic-minded voters and Imamoglu’s secular-based vote in Istanbul.
Imamoglu added that the trust of 16 million citizens of Istanbul in us is a message to our rivals and the ruling party.
Addressing supporters in Ankara, Erdogan said, “The results are disappointing.” If we have made a mistake, we will try to correct it in the coming years.
According to Istanbul’s 92.92 percent polling results, Imamoglu won 50.92 percent of the vote while AKP Party candidate Murat Kurum won 40.05 percent of the vote.
