{"id":32603,"date":"2024-04-01T18:14:04","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T01:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=32603"},"modified":"2024-04-01T18:14:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T01:14:05","slug":"turning-point-turkeys-opposition-party-deals-local-elections-blow-to-erdogan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/04\/01\/turning-point-turkeys-opposition-party-deals-local-elections-blow-to-erdogan\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018TURNING POINT\u2019: TURKEY\u2019S OPPOSITION PARTY DEALS LOCAL ELECTIONS BLOW TO ERDOGAN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Turkey\u2019s opposition claims victory in local elections in blow to Erdogan \u2022 FRANCE 24 English\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hqm-NQEApWA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conceded defeat on Sunday in the country\u2019s local elections, saying the vote was a \u201cturning point\u201d for his party after two decades in power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Issued on:\u00a031\/03\/2024 \u2013 07:35Modified:\u00a001\/04\/2024 \u2013 France24.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By :<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/news-wires\">NEWS WIRES<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Partial results from across the nation of 85 million people showed major advances for the Republican People\u2019s Party (CHP) at the expense of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/recep-tayyip-erdogan\/\">Erdogan<\/a>\u2018s Justice and Development Party (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/akp\/\">AKP<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/istanbul\/\">Istanbul<\/a>\u2018s mayor, the opposition\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/ekrem-imamoglu\/\">Ekrem Imamoglu<\/a>, claimed re-election with nearly all ballot boxes opened, telling a euphoric crowd of supporters: \u201cTomorrow is a new spring day for our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Final results are expected to be released on Monday by the country\u2019s electoral commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Erdogan, 70, had launched an all-out personal campaign to win back Istanbul, the economic powerhouse where he was once mayor. Rampant&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/inflation\/\">inflation<\/a>&nbsp;and an economic crisis have, however, hit confidence in the ruling party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Large crowds filled the square outside the opposition party\u2019s Istanbul city headquarters waving Turkish flags and lighting torches to celebrate the result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After casting his vote, Imamoglu emerged to applause and chants of \u201cEverything will be fine\u201d, the slogan he used when he first took the city hall from the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/akp\/\">AKP<\/a>&nbsp;in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 52-year-old is increasingly seen as the biggest rival to Erdogan\u2019s AKP ahead of the next presidential election in 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Ankara, mayor Mansur Yavas \u2014 also of the CHP \u2014 claimed victory in front of large crowds of supporters, declaring \u201cthe elections are over, we will continue to serve Ankara\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThose who have been ignored have sent a clear message to those who rule this country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yavas led with 58.6 percent of the vote to 33.5 percent for his AKP opponent, with 46.4 percent of ballot boxes opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Opposition supporters celebrated victory in Izmir,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/turkey\/\">Turkey<\/a>\u2018s&nbsp;third-largest city, as well as in the southern city of Antalya.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some AKP stronghold towns were at risk of being lost, results indicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cVoters have chosen to change the face of&nbsp;Turkey,\u201d said CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel as the results emerged.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey want to open the door to a new political climate in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Respect the decision\u2019&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Erdogan acknowledged the electoral setback in a speech to supporters at the headquarters of his party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, we have not obtained the results that we wanted,\u201d he told a subdued crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe will of course respect the decision of the nation. We will avoid being stubborn, acting against the national will and questioning the power of the nation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Erdogan has been president since 2014 and won a new term in May last year. He had called Istanbul the national \u201ctreasure\u201d when launching his campaign to retake the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But while he dominated the campaign, his personal role did not help overcome the widespread concerns over the country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEveryone is worried about the day-to-day,\u201d said 43-year-old Istanbul resident Guler Kaya as she voted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe crisis is swallowing up the middle class. We have had to change all our habits,\u201d she said. \u201cIf Erdogan wins, it will get even worse\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although opposition parties had been fractured ahead of the poll, analysts predicted a stormy political future for the AKP and its allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Berk Esen, an academic at Sabanci University, said that the CHP had pulled off \u201cthe biggest election defeat of Erdogan\u2019s career\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDespite an uneven playing field, government candidates have lost even in conservative strongholds. This is the CHP\u2019s best results since the 1977 elections,\u201d Esen said on his social media account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Unrest in southeast&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkey,\u201d Erman Bakirci, a pollster from Konda Research and Consultancy, recalled Erdogan once saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The election was held with the country reeling from an inflation rate of 67 percent and having seen the lira currency slide from 19 to a dollar to 32 to a dollar in one year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clashes were reported in&nbsp;Turkey\u2019s&nbsp;Kurdish-majority southeast, leaving one dead and 12 wounded, a local official told AFP.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The pro-Kurdish DEM party said it had identified irregularities \u201cin almost all the Kurdish provinces\u201d, in particular through suspicious cases of proxy voting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Observers from France were refused access to a polling station in the region, according to the lawyers\u2019 association MLSA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>About 61 million people were eligible to vote for mayors across Turkey\u2019s&nbsp;81 provinces, as well as provincial council members and other local officials.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>(AFP)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conceded defeat on Sunday in the country\u2019s local elections, saying the vote was a \u201cturning point\u201d for his party after two decades in power. Issued on:\u00a031\/03\/2024 \u2013 07:35Modified:\u00a001\/04\/2024 \u2013 France24.com By :NEWS WIRES Partial results from across the nation of 85 million people showed major&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/04\/01\/turning-point-turkeys-opposition-party-deals-local-elections-blow-to-erdogan\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32603"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32605,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32603\/revisions\/32605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}