Erdogan’s party loses key votes in Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday declared victory on behalf of his party in Sunday’s municipal elections in Turkey despite sustaining significant losses in key areas. In unofficial results, the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party and an allied nationalist party secured more than half of the votes across the country. But they lost the mayoral race in Ankara to the secular Republican People’s Party after leading the capital city for 25 years, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. Unofficial results for Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, showed the opposition candidate in a narrow lead, with 99 percent of the votes counted. The Republican People’s Party also maintained its hold over Izmir, the third largest city in the country.

More than 57 million voters registered to participate in the election as the country faces an economic recession with high unemployment and rising food prices. Fatih Sahin, the Justice and Development Party’s general secretary, said the party would file objections against the vote count in Ankara. Early on Monday, Erdogan praised the outcome as a victory, but noted, “We will begin our work to identify our shortcomings and make up for them.”