Turkey: Electoral Board confirms the defeat of Erdogan's party in the elections

The Supreme Electoral Board of Turkey (YSK) confirmed this Monday the results of last Sunday's municipal elections, in which The social democratic opposition (CHP) inflicted a severe defeat on the ruling AKP, the Islamist party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

After counting 99.9 percent of the votes, no changes are expected in the results, although the certificate that makes them official has yet to be issued.

According to the results that are not yet final, the CHP has won 35 provincial capitals, the AKP 24, the DEM (pro-Kurdish left) 10 and the MHP (nationalist) 8.

“According to the results that are not yet final, the CHP has won 35 provincial capitals, the AKP 24, the DEM (pro-Kurdish left) 10 and the MHP (nationalist) 8,” said Ahmet Yener, president of the YSK, in an appearance in television.

Besides, The Islamist Yeniden Refah Party (YRP), formerly an ally of the AKP, took two capitals, and the nationalist IYI and the right-wing BBP each won one..

Of the 30 provinces that are classified as “macro-city”, which makes the mayor of the capital the councilor of the entire province, with the consequent political and economic weight, the CHP has won 14, the AKP 12, the DEM 3 and the YRP 1, Yener confirmed.

Electoral participation was slightly above 78%, somewhat lower than usual, according to Yener, which means a drop of 6 points compared to the municipal elections of 2019 and 9 points compared to the general elections of last year.

Yener stressed that “except for isolated tragic incidents, the elections have been carried out calmly and safely.”

Two people died yesterday in clashes with sticks, stones and firearms between DEM and AKP supportersboth in rural municipalities in the southeastern areas of the country, with a Kurdish majority.

The DEM has also denounced that the Government has taken “thousands” of soldiers and police to vote in several provinces in eastern Anatolia to tip the balance in favor of AKP mayors.

The law allows military and police officers to vote where they are stationedwithout having to appear in the census, and the DEM assures that the Government abuses this clause to win in provinces with a Kurdish majority.