Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared victory in council elections, but the opposition’s success in key cities dealt a significant blow to his party’s dominance. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared victory in council elections, but the opposition’s success in key cities dealt a significant blow to his party’s dominance. Both candidates — Ekrem Imamoglu for the secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, and former prime minister Binali Yildirim for the ruling party — claimed they had won. Despite the setbacks, Erdogan’s ruling party and an allied nationalist party still won more than half of the votes across Turkey. In predominantly Kurdish provinces, a pro-Kurdish party won seven top mayoral seats but lost some strongholds, including south-eastern Sirnak province, to the ruling party.

Source: Irish Independent April 01, 2019 02:26 UTC