Erdogan's AKP loses big cities in election

Erdogan (Wikipedia)

The Justice and Development Party (AKP), the party of president Erdogan has won Sunday's elections in Turkey, although it lost votes compared to the last elections. Nationwide it scored, together with its coalition partner,  more than 50 percent. But the ruling party lost in the capital, Ankara, and in also in Istanbul.

The party made known however that it is objecting to the resultas. Bayram Senocak, the AK Party's top official in Istanbul, said on Tuesday he has submitted objections to results in all 39 of the city's districts, seeking a recount to fix alleged irregularities and a reassessment of invalid votes.

The same happend in Ankara. There Hakan Han Ozcan, AK Party's chairman, told reporters they were also filing an appeal in 25 districts of the city.

 The move came a day after electoral authorities announced Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayoral candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in Istanbul, was ahead of his AK Party rival - ex-Prime Minister Binali Yildirim - by about 28,000 votes.In Ankar received Mansur Yavas, the CHP's newly elected mayor, 50.9 percent of votes in Sunday's vote, defeating his AK Party rival and former minister Mehmet Ozhaseki by nearly four percentage points.

Defeats in Ankara and Istanbul come as a major setback for Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for more than 16 years.
A former mayor of Istanbul, Erdogan had campaigned relentlessly before the vote, describing it as a "matter of survival" for the country.
The president's political success has rested on years of stellar economic growth in Turkey, but a recession that has brought surging inflation and unemployment and a plunging lira currency have affected his popularity.