Turkey: Erdogan suffers major blow in local elections | DW News

Turkish President Rup Tyup Erdogan and his conservative AK party have suffered a severe

blow

in

local

elections

. Turkey's main opposition party, the secular CHP, claimed victory in key cities such as Istanbul and the capital. Ankara Erdogan called the setback a loss of altitude and said his party would analyze the message people had given him. The votes are seen as a sign of support for Eran after his 20 years in power by opposition supporters in Istanbul. They are painting the city red celebrating the spectacular victories of the main opposition party, the CHP, in

local

elections

across Turkey, the secular party sees it as a sign that it still has a chance at the national level against the ruling party.

AK. These election results have been a response to the repression of the AKP regime and what they have done to the economy and the social structure of this country and that is why I am very happy for my country now. We were very disappointed after the general election last year, but now that we are here celebrating with people being able to cheer, we really miss these kinds of feelings. We are very happy and so is the man of the moment. Istanbul Mayor Eim Imamu, this is the second victory for him in Turkey's megacity. Imamu has achieved superstar status in Turkish politics, putting him on the path to national power.

Many see him as President Erdogan's main rival. The nation itself gives the order and instructions, not just one person. officials receive instructions from the nation onean's period of government has ended as of today the Republic is over and democracy can advance at full speed From now on the results mark the worst defeat for Erdogan and his AK party in more than Two decades in power the president had done everything possible to gain the economic and political power of Istanbul, Turkey, admitting defeat at his party headquarters in Ankara. Istanbul was where Erdogan launched his political career as mayor 30 years ago.

Now many see his potential challenger following in his footsteps that I spoke to before. DW's Istanbul correspondent Dorian Jones told me more about the mood in the country following what some are calling a historic election, well, it has to be said, the mood is quite calm, it's a national holiday and I think, taking into account the fact that many people were celebrating literally all night with dancing and the convoys of cars honking their horns a feeling of joy and euphoria now I think there are people with a lot of headaches this morning uh and uh It will be expected that this will be the case for the rest of the day but it must be said that the reason there is so much euphoria is that the opposition never saw the magnitude of this victory.

There was a feeling of utter desolation in the run-up to this election. The opposition was deeply divided, shocked by the defeat in last year's presidential election. elections they had hoped to have won and really saw this as the last chance hall for them, facing what they saw as Erdogan's tightening grip on media power control, ancestry prosecutions, crackdowns on the independent independent media. the feeling that there was less and less room to operate and oppose Erdogan, these elections have changed that completely and, in fact, EO, addressing thousands of followers in the early hours of today, said that this message from Istanbul is a message to the world that an authoritarian government can be defeated peacefully and democratically and that is the message that the opposition is taking from these results, which is why the opposition is surprised by how well they did here.

Can you tell us what electoral issues were on the table that the opposition did? particularly well in these elections, I think it must be said that the main issue in these elections was the economy, the country is in the grip of an inflation of 70%, here in Istanbul it is believed that it is well above 100%, there is a huge amount. of economic pain in Istanbul and in many of the shitty cities throughout the country, which is why it is recognized that there is a lot of reaction and rejection of the government's policies, what is misleading is their indifference, but at the same time the opposition has deployed successfully positive candidates, people who resonated and who overcame the deep divisions of the Turkish opposition and I think they were rewarded by the candidates they chose and the campaign they ran, which surprised many people and you already mentioned the team of mayors gathered.

Imamu is clearly one of the big winners in these elections. Can you tell us a little more about what his victory means for President Erdogan? Well, Imamu has now defeated Erdogan in two maral elections. This will underline his credentials as the man who can defeat Erdan and his powerful electoral machine even though Erdan was not on the ballot Erdan led the campaign here in Istanbul from the front with 17 minutes touring the city in the run-up to PO Erdan He put his prestige at stake and was humiliated because the defense of the defeat in Istanbul was extensive, they were places that never voted for the opposition, true bastions of the ERD, even where he was born and grew up, in Bolo, the place where he considered his most important castle. , which also fell into the hands of the opposition. several other important areas of the city and that is also sending a resounding victory, not only where they have not only the reach of the votes but also where they have successfully won victories that they have never achieved before in a generation, well, thank you.

To catch us up, that's DW's Adorian Jones in Istanbul