The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) held onto or captured the country’s five biggest cities in Sunday’s vote, which had been seen as a make-or-break moment for a movement still reeling from Erdoğan’s victory in the Turkish presidential contest in May 2023.
In his victory speech delivered late Sunday, Imamoğlu said the local election results would have big implications for the country’s political future.
Imamoğlu is seen as a future challenger to Erdoğan, and winning the city which catapulted the current president to national prominence when he won the mayorship 30 years ago is a symbolic achievement.
“Conservative voters punished the AKP at the ballot box for the cost of living crisis,” Nasi said, adding that the CHP had expanded beyond its coastal strongholds, increasing its vote in Turkey’s Anatolian heartlands.
A victory in Istanbul — widely considered a microcosm of Turkey — could have given Erdoğan the political momentum and economic resources to move ahead with his goal to amend the constitution to prolong his time in office.
“Voters gave a yellow card to the government,” he told POLITICO, arguing that with massive support behind the opposition he now sees early elections as more likely.
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