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A setback for the Reis. On Sunday 31 March Turkey’s liberal opposition came out on top in the country’s municipal elections. The centre-left CHP (Republican People’s Party) managed to win or hold Turkey’s largest cities, including Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.
It was a failure for the right-wing populist AK (Justice and Development) Party of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which lost a number of its strongholds. Amid rampant inflation AK proved unable to mobilise enough voters. This boost to the opposition is unlikely to solve all Turkey’s problems, but it had been eagerly hoped for by the many Turks disappointed by the 2023 presidential election. Some see the confirmation of Ekrem İmamoğlu (CHP) as mayor of Istanbul as a good omen and are already hoping to see him challenge Erdoğan for the presidency in 2028.
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