Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost municipal elections to the opposition People's Republican Party (PRP) for the first time in 20 years.
What is known about the elections in Turkey
After counting 93% of the minutes, the NDP received 37.4% of the votes, while Erdogan's ruling party received 35.7%. The opposition mayors of the three largest cities — Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir — will retain their positions after the elections. Erdogan's party will also lose mayors in 19 key municipalities, including the major cities of Bursa and Balikesir in the country's industrialized northwest.
"Unfortunately, we could not get the result we wanted and hoped for in the municipal elections," Erdogan told his supporters in Ankara.
However, he assured that the elections, in which the people conveyed their position to politicians through the ballot box, were "not the end, but the beginning of a turning point." Erdogan promised that the ruling party has "lost ground" across the country and will take steps to respond to voters' messages. He noted that he is ready to correct mistakes if they are made shortly and to supplement his policy if "something is missing".
In turn, the NRP leader, Ekrem Imamoglu, who won the Istanbul mayoral election (he received 50.92% of the vote against AKP's Murat Kurum's 40.05%), said late on March 31 that "those who do not understand the message of the nation, ultimately lose." At the same time, his supporters chanted demands for Erdogan's resignation at the rally.
The situation in Turkey
Turkish entrepreneur, engineer, technical director and co-owner of Baykar Makina Selcuk Bayraktar may become the next president of Turkey. This is stated in the material of The Wall Street Journal.
Journalists emphasise that Bayraktar is married to one of the daughters of the current president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and he is met by admirers everywhere. According to polls, Selchuk Bayraktar is one of the most popular public figures in the country.
