Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has won national elections for the first time since 1977.
According to preliminary official election results on Sunday 31 March, the secular party won 37.7 percent of the vote, more than two percentage points more than President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The AKP lost 11 cities it controlled after the 2019 local elections. Its results in the five largest cities – Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa and Antalya – were very bad. Also unexpectedly bad for the party were results in conservative areas of Anatolia, such as Adiyaman and Afyon. Samil Tayyar, a former MP from the AKP, wrote on X:
“The virus that entered into our system such as arbitrariness, arrogance, nepotism, high cost of living, and impoverishment were clear signs of the drift in the economy. This result is neither the permanent success of the CHP nor the New Welfare Party, but a very harsh balancing act for the AKP. This is a political disaster.”
The New Welfare Party, or Yeniden Refah Partisi (YRP), is a right-wing Islamist populist party that has offered an alternative to some religious voters who usually support AKP. Its officials who considered demonising it are said to have been disappointed because YRP was part of the AKP alliance in last year’s national elections, which meant it was endorsed. Middle East Eye quoted an Ankara insider as saying:
“We have some time to recover the economy and focus on our goals. But Erdoğan doesn’t have the same stamina anymore. He is tired after too many election cycles.”
Many saw the local elections as a referendum on Erdogan, who has entered his third decade as Turkey’s leader. Selim Koru, an analyst at the Ankara-based Tepav think tank, told the Financial Times:
“It was a “no” vote toErdoğan especially in Istanbul and a lot of other places.”
59-year-old Sanliurfa resident Ramazan Cimen, who has typically voted for the AKP, said:
“It’s enough AKP. We are tired of the AKP because of the economic situation. Everything is so expensive. We need a change in this country.”
The results were a blow to Mr. Erdogan, 70, who has been Turkey’s predominant politician for more than two decades. He has used his power as prime minister and then president to expand the role of Islam in public life and to build Turkey’s status as an economic and military player. The next general election will not be held until 2028.
