Turkey election polls latest: Erdogan facing MAJOR set back as opposition wins Ankara

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lost control of the capital Ankara following local elections on Sunday, March 31. Preliminary results also showed the opposition, the People’s Republican Party (CHP), ahead of the President’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul. If these results are confirmed, they will demonstrate a decline for President Erdogan, who has dominated in the polls since his becoming Prime Minister in 2003. 

These reversals came despite a relentless two-month campaign by the president, who spoke to at least eight rallies a day and condemned his opponents. 

President Erdogan slammed his rivals as terrorists and warned that the vote was a “matter of survival” for Turkey.

The secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP) overcame overwhelming media support for the AKP and an environment which European observers said fell short of requirements for “genuine democratic elections”. 

The AKP said it would appeal against the results in both cities.

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Turkey has experienced years of rapid economic growth under Erdogan, underpinned by a construction boom and cheap loans, that have driven living standards ever higher and ensured the AKP won votes well beyond its core constituency of pious and conservative Turks.

However, recent economic troubles impacted party support, two AK Party sources said, after the lira slumped against the dollar last year, inflation jumped to 20 percent, unemployment climbed and the economy tipped into recession.

One of the sources said: “We saw the impact of the economy in the field because there was serious unease.”

The source added that Istanbul – Turkey’s largest city – accounted for 40 percent of Turkey’s economy, meaning that any slowdown would hit the city hard.

Three AKP sources told Reuters that President Erdogan was likely to make cabinet changes in response to the setback, but gave no details as to what would change. 

One source said: ”There will certainly be changes in some places.” 

After Mr Erdogan won elections last June which ushered in a powerful new executive presidency, he also appointed his son-in-law Berat Albayrak as Finance and Treasury Minister.

The sources declined to say whether Mr Albayrak’s position might be affected.

Another party source said: “If (Erdogan) cannot create a solution, it’s inevitable that there will be greater losses in the period ahead.”

President Erdogan seemed to acknowledge the challenge ahead for himself and his party, promising to use the remaining four years until Turkey’s national elections to undertake economic reform. 

He said: “We now have a four-and-a-half-year uninterrupted period to work.”

However, economists say the president has made similar reform pledges after all recent elections, before focusing instead on short-term fixes.

source: express.co.uk