Supporters listen to Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s mayor and Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate, outside city hall in Istanbul on April 1, 2024.
(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Increased political power for Turkey’s secularist CHP is a problem for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who must now reignite the Turkish economy and stem the rising appeal of rival splinter Islamist parties.
President Tayyip Erdogan and his party suffered their biggest electoral blow in a nationwide local vote that reasserted the opposition as a political force.
Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, on June 27, several days after his election.
REUTERS/Kemal Aslan
Turkey’s authoritarian leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was handed a big defeat recently when his party’s candidate lost a crucial election contest. Is this the beginning of Erdogan’s demise?