Istanbul election rerun: Opposition candidate wins key mayoral race | News | DW | 23.06.2019

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Istanbul election rerun: Opposition candidate wins key mayoral race

Opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu has taken the lead in a high-stakes rerun of Istanbul's mayoral race. The results deal a blow to President Erdogan's ruling party, which had called for the redo of the vote.

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Imamoglu wins Istanbul mayoral election

Opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu took the lead over the ruling party candidate in the repeat race for Istanbul's mayor, according to initial results released on Sunday.

Imamoglu secured 54% of the vote while his rival, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, garnered 45.1% of the vote with over 99% of the city's ballots counted, according to results posted by Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency.

Imamoglu, who is a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), said his victory marked a "new beginning" for Turkey.

"It was not a single group or party, but the whole of Istanbul and Turkey that won this election," the opposition politician said, adding that he was ready to work with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to solve the problems facing Istanbul.

Yildirim conceded defeat in the election shortly after the first results were announced, saying: "I congratulate him and wish him success." Erdogan also offered his congratulations to the opposition candidate on Twitter.

Opposition supporters took to the streets of Istanbul following the release of the results, but his win still needs to be confirmed by Turkey's electoral board, DW's Julia Hahn reported.

Election officials decided to cancel the results of the first vote in March after Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) alleged that there had been cases of vote rigging and corruption.

In the first election, Imamoglu won by just 13,000 votes, with 48.8% of the vote, compared to Yildirim's 48.5%.

Around 10 million people were eligible to vote in the rerun election, with unofficial results putting voter turnout at 84%. 

Read more: Germany wary as Istanbul votes under shadow of Erdogan

  • View of Kasimpasa neighborhood, Istanbul

    Turkey: Back to Erdogan's Istanbul roots

    Erdogan's hometown

    Just a short walk from Galata Tower and Istanbul's central Istiklal Avenue on the European side of the city, sits Kasimpasa. It's the neighborhood where the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was born and raised 65 years ago. It's also the place where his most loyal supporters live.

  • Women walk on the street under the flags of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP)

    Turkey: Back to Erdogan's Istanbul roots

    A new era

    Last summer, Turkey held one of the most consequential elections in the country's modern history. On June 24, 2018, Erdogan started a new five-year term and became the first Turkish president to gain unprecedented new powers. "Turkey is entering a new era," he told members of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) on the day he was sworn in as president again.

  • A dress made out of the flags of Erdogan's AKP Party hangs on a mannequin outside a seamstress's workshop

    Turkey: Back to Erdogan's Istanbul roots

    Maximum power

    In the wake of a 2017 referendum, Erdogan managed to change the constitution from a parliamentary democracy to a presidential republic. That allowed Erdogan to now serve both as head or state and head of government. It was the biggest change to the country's political system since the Turkish Republic was established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923. Here, a dress has been made out of AKP flags.

  • A boy leans out an open window in a block of flats in Kasimpasa, Istanbul

    Turkey: Back to Erdogan's Istanbul roots

    One of the family

    Posters bearing Erdogan's face and AKP flags bedecked Kasimpasa for days ahead of the election. Pasted on walls or hanging from balconies, it was clear who the neighborhood supported. Opposition candidates' posters were usually found torn or vandalized. For the people of Kasimpasa, Erdogan is part of the family.

  • A woman feeds sits next to two chickens on the stoop outside of her home in Kasimpasa, Istanbul

    Turkey: Back to Erdogan's Istanbul roots

    A simple background

    Erdogan comes from a conservative, working class family, a background that many of his supporters can relate to. He started his political career from Kasimpasa, where he lived most of his life. He first became mayor of Istanbul in 1994, prime minister in 2003 and president of Turkey in 2014.

  • Men in a café watch the election results on television in Kasimpasa, Istanbul

    Turkey: Back to Erdogan's Istanbul roots

    Great expectations

    The residents of Kasimpasa watched the news impatiently on election day in 2018. Most of the neighborhood's cafes were packed with men who had gathered hours earlier, waiting for the official results to come out. They were embroiled in passionate political discussions as they drank Turkish coffee or hot tea on that warm summer day.

  • Men at a Kasimpasa taxi company watch election results on television, Istanbul

    Turkey: Back to Erdogan's Istanbul roots

    Local hero

    Erdogan is a local hero in Kasimpasa, someone like them who made it to the top. Though he's not exactly one of them anymore, as some of his opponents say. But for the locals nothing has changed. Why do they vote for him? "Because we love him," proclaimed one neighborhood resident who had cast a ballot for the president.

  • People stand on a Kasimpasa sidewalk waiting for the parade celebrating the victory of Erdogan and the AKP, Istanbul

    Turkey: Back to Erdogan's Istanbul roots

    'Man from Kasimpasa' above all

    Erdogan is known in the area as "Kasimpasali," or "the man from Kasimpasa." When initial results were announced on TV, people of all ages took to the streets of Kasimpasa to celebrate his victory, even though all ballots had not yet been counted. "They are traitors," a group of women said of those who voted for the opposition.

  • An old man waves a Turkish flag as he celebrates the election results on Kasimpasa's main square in Istanbul

    Turkey: Back to Erdogan's Istanbul roots

    Celebration

    The victory parade traversed streets throughout Kasimpasa before coming to an end at the central square by the port. There people sang, danced, set off fireworks and shot rifles into the air. A giant LED screen showed the results as people hugged each other and waved AKP flags. It was Erdogan's biggest win to date, and his former neighbors celebrated for him.

  • Supporters of the AKP wave flags in celebration, Kasimpasa, Istanbul

    Turkey: Back to Erdogan's Istanbul roots

    Back to the voting booth

    One year later, the people of Kasimpasa and the rest of Istanbul have been called to the polls once again. The March 31 mayoral election resulted in a slim win for opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu over the AKP's Binali Yildirim. Under pressure from the AKP over allegations of ballot "irregularities," the election body nullified the results and scheduled a rerun of the election for June 23.

    Author: Demetrios Ioannou (Istanbul)


Major blow to Erdogan

Sunday's vote and the nationwide local elections in March were seen as a referendum on Erdogan's policies and the popularity of his ruling party. Although the AKP won a majority of the local elections, the party lost the mayoral seat in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

The second defeat in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city and financial capital, has dealt a major blow to Erdogan and his AKP and could have larger political repercussions.

Analysts say the AKP loss in Istanbul could lead to a Cabinet reshuffle or possibly trigger a national election earlier than the one currently scheduled for 2023.

As he cast his ballot earlier on Sunday, Erdogan — who served at the city's mayor in the 1990s — said he hoped that voters would "make the best decision for Istanbul."

The Turkish president has tightened his grip on power since a failed military coup in 2016, launching a crackdown on rights groups, civil society and opposition activists.

rs/amp (AP, dpa, Reuters)

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