I wonder how many of these newly elected politicians will be arrested and jailed in the coming months, in the way that mayors of Kurdish cities were replaced en masse with unelected AKP administrators a few years ago.
Let’s see what Erdogan comes up with. A nice false flag attack maybe?
I hope it all fails and he can soon hide together with Bolsonaro in Hungary.
I think it’s too late for Erdogan, he is probably at the end of his political career. He even said that this will be his last election (though he will probably stay around until 2028).
Boleonaro is hiding in Hungary? The authoritarians really are collaborating these days.
opposition did not gain anything, people who support Erdogan did not vote to protest
The opposition gained control of a shit ton of critical territory. Last term for example, the mayor of Istanbul was opposition but the city parliament was not. This time it’s both opposition. A lot of large municipalities that used to belong to akp have now switched as well. That’s quite a lot of resources taken away from Erdoğan, which is a definite gain for the opposition no matter how you choose to look at it.
Total number of votes the opposition got almost the same. They win because AKP voters did not vote. Total number of voters were all time low by ~64%
The fact that akp’s historically very loyal base decided not to vote is in itself a huge gain though. That means that their trust and loyalty is going away, that means akp’s grip over the nation is seriously wavering. And now the opposition is stronger than they’ve been for 2 decades, and they have a few years until the next election to use their newly increased power and influence to further chip away at that trust and loyalty.
Sorry, never gonna happen
Ok
This is the best summary I could come up with:
With more than 90% of ballot boxes counted, incumbent Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was leading by a wide margin in Turkey’s largest city and economic hub, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.
The vote was seen as a barometer of Erdogan’s popularity as he sought to win back control of key urban areas he lost to the opposition in elections five years ago.
The result came as a boost for the opposition, which was left divided and demoralized after a defeat to Erdogan and his ruling Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul-based Edam think tank, said “the surprising outcome” was due to voters wanting to punish the ruling party over the “depth of an economic malaise.”
In previous years, Erdogan’s government removed elected pro-Kurdish mayors from office for alleged links to Kurdish militants and replaced them with state-appointed trustees.
Analysts said a strong showing for Erdogan’s party would have hardened his resolve to usher in a new constitution — one that would reflect his conservative values and allow him to rule beyond 2028 when his current term ends.
The original article contains 995 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 80%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
