By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ISTANBUL (Worthy News) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faced his most significant political challenge in recent memory Tuesday as official results confirmed that his party suffered its worst defeat in more than two decades in this weekend’s local elections.
With most votes counted, Erdogan’s main rival, Ekrem Imamoglu, led by ten percentage points in the mayoral race in Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city.
His Republican People’s Party (CHP) retained Ankara, the capital, by a resounding margin and gained 15 other mayoral seats in cities nationwide.
Yet the loss of Istanbul suggested a shift among voters demanding reforms analysts suggested.
The nationwide municipal votes on March 31 undermined President Erdogan’s control after two decades of running Turkey, underscoring the NATO military alliance member’s deeply divided political landscape.
It reasserted the opposition as a political force.
OPPOSITION HOPES
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu also reinforced his image as the president’s chief rival.
“Those who do not understand the nation’s message will eventually lose,” Imamoglu, 53, told thousands of jubilant supporters late on Sunday, some chanting for Erdogan to resign.
“Tonight, 16 million Istanbul citizens sent a message to both our rivals and the president,” said the former businessman, who entered politics in 2008 and is now widely touted as a likely presidential challenger.
Erdogan, who in the 1990s was also mayor of his hometown, Istanbul, had campaigned hard ahead of the municipal elections, which analysts described as a gauge of both his support and the opposition’s durability.
It was unclear whether the changes would impact Turkey’s Christian minority, which has experienced persecution and even killings in several parts of the country.
Turkey had also faced international pressure to improve religious and political rights in a nation where journalists and other perceived critics of Erdogan’s perceived authoritarian style have been jailed.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
The Trump administration has finalized a sweeping reciprocal trade agreement with Taiwan, confirming a 15 percent U.S. tariff rate on Taiwanese imports while securing broad new market access and purchase commitments for American goods.
Democrats are applauding White House border czar Tom Homan’s Thursday announcement that immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota will end next week.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate tanked the Homeland Security full-year funding bill in a last-ditch vote Thursday, all but guaranteeing a partial government shutdown starting Saturday.
Mourners in a remote Canadian town grappled Thursday with the aftermath of one of the country’s deadliest school shootings in decades, as families, survivors and leaders reacted to the tragedy that left eight victims — most of them children — dead, along with the 18-year-old suspect.
A gunman who opened fire at a school in southern Thailand’s Hat Yai city on Wednesday wounded a teacher and a student before being detained, authorities said, in a rare attack that sent students and staff into panic.
The Republican-led House of Representatives has passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, advancing legislation that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo identification at the polls. The bill now heads to the Senate, where its future remains uncertain amid strong Democratic opposition.
Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that its advanced David’s Sling air and missile defense system has completed a series of complex modernized tests, a development officials say bolsters the country’s defensive posture as tensions with Iran escalate and the United States prepares military options that could include direct strikes.