Polls indicate governing AK Party could be ousted in Ankara and Istanbul
Ankara — Turks voted on Sunday in local elections that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described as a matter of survival for Turkey and which were tarnished by violence that left two party members dead in the country’s southeast.
With the economy contracting following a currency crisis in 2018 in which the lira lost more than 30% of its value, some voters appeared ready to punish Erdogan, who has governed with an increasingly uncompromising stance. Last week, as authorities again scrambled to shore up the lira, Erdogan cast the country’s economic woes as resulting from attacks by the West, saying Turkey would overcome its troubles following the vote and adding he was “the boss” of the economy.
After voting in Istanbul, Erdogan said he was saddened by the incident and that it was being thoroughly investigated. About 553,000 police and security force members were on duty for the vote nationwide. Defeat in Ankara or Istanbul would end nearly 25 years of governance by Erdogan’s AKP or its predecessors in those cities and deal a symbolic blow to Turkey's leader.Ahead of the vote, the main opposition Republican People’s Party and Iyi Party formed an electoral alliance to rival that of the AKP and its nationalist Nationalist Movement Partypartners.
“Before, this city did not have the services I have now seen. I gave my vote to the AK Party for services to continue,” said tradesman Haci Ahmet Beyaz.
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