In a blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's opposition wins Istanbul mayoral election after an earlier poll was canceled. The result adds pressure on a government grappling with recession and international crises.
June 23, 2019
“Thank you, Istanbul,” Ekrem Imamoglu, 49, said to the tens of thousands of people who gathered to mark his victory after unofficial results showed he won a clear majority of the vote. Imamoglu narrowly won an earlier mayoral election on March 31, but Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, AKP, challenged the vote over alleged irregularities. He spent 18 days in office before Turkey’s electoral board annulled the results after weeks of partial recounts.
Jubilant supporters chanted “Mayor again! Mayor again!” Others hung out of cars, blaring horns and waving red-and-white Turkish flags. Melahat Ugen said she switched her vote to the opposition because she could not afford to cover basic expenses. Erdogan has previously signaled an unwillingness to work with an opposition mayor, saying his party controls 25 of Istanbul’s 39 districts and a majority in the municipal assembly. Imamoglu will have to work with those officeholders to govern Istanbul, and he promised to do so Sunday.
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