Turkish local elections, 31 March 2019

[Walmart_shopper]

First results are in:

Istanbul: 10.7% in

52.5% AKP
44.8% CHP

Ankara: 9.6% in

53.9% AKP
41.9% CHP

Izmir: 9.8% in

58.0% CHP
37.4% AKP

Nationwide: 13.6% in

49.5% AKP
23.7% CHP
  6.7% IYI
  5.8% MHP
  5.3% HDP

 Laugh Out Loud.

[Walmart_shopper]

Istanbul has been called for the CHP!

It really is nice to see the Turkish opposition finally have a successful election.

Although success in this case is limited almost entirely to Europhile big cities even as the rest of the country continued its reflexive support for the AKP. But a limited victory, chipping away at AKP hegemony, is not nothing. The question is whether they can actually beat Erdogen in a national election, which doesn't appear any more likely today than it did a week ago.

[Walmart_shopper]

Istanbul election anulled and will be repeated.

YSC (electoral commission) has accepted AK Parti appeal regarding the result.

They are coming up with some nonsense about "FETÖ" rigging.

Erdogen never loses. It's why he never loses.

[Walmart_shopper]

Istanbul election anulled and will be repeated.

YSC (electoral commission) has accepted AK Parti appeal regarding the result.

They are coming up with some nonsense about "FETÖ" rigging.

Erdogen never loses. It's why he never loses.

I would like to think that the Turkish people wont stand for this. But then i remember he pulled the same trick in 2015 and it worked.   

He also turned an actual military coup attempt into a sweeping consolidation of power in media, politics, and culture. I hardly think a mayoral election is beyond his transformative abilities.

[Walmart_shopper]

Also, can someone explain how a mildly Islamist and less mildly right wing party is so relatively successful in a self-consciously secular and cosmopolitan place like Istanbul? Are there really that many AKP voters hiding under rocks along the Bosporus?

[Walmart_shopper]

First returns have Immoglu up by eight, which is a pretty massive blow to Erdogen if it holds up.