A big defeat for Erdogan not only in the duel with Imamoglu, but also in other large municipalities of Turkey. Ekrem Imamoglou emerges big winner as it gathers over 50% of the votes in Turkey’s largest municipality, Istanbul.

At the same time in Ankara, the difference between Mansur Yavas and Erdogan’s chosen one, Turgut Altinok, exceeds 22 points.

The election results are a reversal, as reports SKAI’s correspondent, Manolis Kostidisas for the first time since 2002 the Republican Party wins in the territory with the percentage expected to reach 40%.

In particular, Ekrem Imamoglu, current mayor and candidate from Turkey’s main opposition CHP party, is leading the mayoral elections in the country’s largest city, Istanbul, NTV reported.

With 60.39% of the votes counted, Imamoglu received 50.20%, while Murat Kurum, the candidate from President Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP Party, received 41.08%.

Ekrem Imamoglu made a first statement in which he expressed his satisfaction with the first results.

“We have very good results at the moment and we are watching them anxiously. we have a very good team and a very good results tracking system. The picture we have is very satisfying, but we should not talk before we have a complete picture from the municipality,” said Imamoglu.

The same victory scenario is observed in Ankara, with the mayor Mansour Yavas leading by a margin of more than 24 points with 58.44% to 35.57% of the counted votes against Turgut Altinok’s 33.91%. The current mayor of Ankara even announced his victory with a post on X.

In Izmir, the CHP maintains the leadership of the city, with Cemil Tugay to collect 47.99% and Hamza Dag (AKP): at 37.16%, with integration at 56.75%.

Earlier, the process for the local elections in Turkey was completed, which are expected to be a barometer for the popularity of Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the battle is crucial both for the control of Istanbul and Ankara and for the future of the country.

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The result in 24% of the counted votes

They came to the polls of the municipal elections in the morning approximately 61.5 million Turkish voters to elect 1,393 mayors and thousands of municipal councilors as well as local lords of municipal districts and villages.

The polls opened in the eastern eprovinces at 7:00 pm and closed at 4:00 pm, while in the western provinces voting lasted from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Earlier, Mr Ekrem Imamoglu and Murat Kurum they exercised their right to vote with the current mayor of Istanbul leaving clear points for the security of the conduct of the elections calling on the citizens to protect the process.

In particular, Imamoglu asked the citizens to protect the ballot box and their vote: “Voting is a sacred right in our democracy. This right must be protected. The rules regarding the protection of this right are clear, but unfortunately, since there are deficiencies in this matter in Turkey, this matter is done in cooperation with the citizens.”

For his part, Murat Kurum expressed his belief that today was a celebration for all citizens of Istanbul and thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his trust.

The importance of the elections was pointed out by Recep Tayyip Erdogan coming to vote, speaking of an election that will mark a new era for the country.

“We recently held the parliamentary and presidential elections. Today we are holding local elections. These two elections tired our nation, and they tired us. Because we had a very intense campaign. I hope that the local governments will have a good result for our country and nation. This election will usher in a new era in our country in a short period. On the one hand, the parliamentary and presidential elections, and on the other, the local government elections, we hope will lead to the beginning of a new era, a new century in our country. I hope it happens,” Erdogan said.