Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Monday 24 June 2019

Opposition win in Istanbul a blow to Turkey's Erdogan

By ZEYNEP BILGINSOY and "I've certainly never voted
DEREK GATOPOULOS left before," she said. "But
ISTANBUL (AP) — The oppo- I'm 62, and a bag of onions
sition candidate for mayor costs too much. Everything
of Istanbul celebrated a is imported and we can't
landmark win Sunday in a afford it."
closely watched repeat Istanbul, a city of more than
election that ended weeks 15 million, draws millions of
of political tension and tourists each year and is
broke the long hold Presi- Turkey's commercial and
dent Recep Tayyip Erdo- cultural hub. Straddling Eu-
gan's party had on leading rope and Asia, Istanbul ac-
Turkey's largest city. counted for 31% of Turkey's
"Thank you, Istanbul," Ekrem GDP in 2017.
Imamoglu, 49, said to the Erdogan has previously
tens of thousands of peo- signaled an unwillingness
ple who gathered to mark to work with an opposi-
his victory after unofficial tion mayor, saying his party
results showed he won a controls 25 of Istanbul's 39
clear majority of the vote. districts and a majority in
The governing party's can- the municipal assembly.
didate, former Turkish Prime Imamoglu will have to work
Minister Binali Yildirim, con- with those officeholders to
ceded moments after re- govern Istanbul, and he
turns showed him trailing promised to do so Sunday.
well behind Imamoglu, Addressing Erdogan in a
54% to 45%. Imamoglu in- speech, Imamoglu said,
creased his lead from a "I'm ready to work with you"
March mayoral election by to solve Istanbul's problems.
hundreds of thousands of Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara
votes. office director of the Ger-
Erdogan congratulated man Marshall Fund, argued
Imamoglu in a tweet. Ana- that the loss of Istanbul is
lysts noted the president, likely to fuel speculation of
who is grappling with an Ekrem Imamoglu candidate of the secular opposition Republican People's Party makes state- divisions within the ruling
economic downturn and ments at CHP offices in Istanbul, Sunday, June 23, 2019. party and among its sup-
several international cri- Associated Press porters.
ses, could limit the mayor's "It's now clear that a sizable
power or undermine Ima- whether Erdogan's party hard for Yildirim in Istanbul, funding and hampering his portion of the AKP voters is
moglu's authority in other would accept any elector- where the president started office's ability to provide seriously dissatisfied by poli-
ways. al loss. AKP has governed his political career as mayor services or by removing him cies of the AKP," he said.
Imamoglu narrowly won an Turkey since 2002. in 1994. Lisel Hintz, an assis- under some legal pretext," "The (opposition) was a
earlier mayoral election on "You have protected the tant international relations Hintz said. house that was united. The
March 31, but Erdogan's reputation of democracy professor at Johns Hopkins AKP also lost control of the AKP house looked like one
Justice and Development in Turkey with the whole University SAIS, said Ima- capital city of Ankara in that was already divided."
Party, AKP, challenged the world watching," Imamo- moglu withstood a divisive Turkey's March local elec- He argued Erdogan is al-
vote over alleged irregu- glu, his voice hoarse after campaign and prevailed tions, which were held as ready facing an "a perfect
larities. He spent 18 days in weeks of campaigning, with a positive message. the country battled high storm" this summer. Erdo-
office before Turkey's elec- told supporters. The significance of his win inflation and two credit rat- gan was already at odds
toral board annulled the Jubilant supporters chant- "cannot be understated," ing downgrades in the past with Western allies over
results after weeks of partial ed "Mayor again! Mayor Hintz said. year. Turkey's plans to buy the
recounts. again!" Others hung out "We now have to wait and Melahat Ugen said she Russian-made S-400 mis-
The voided vote raised of cars, blaring horns and see whether Imamoglu's switched her vote to the sile defense system and its
concerns domestically and waving red-and-white Turk- tenure as mayor will be in- opposition because she challenge of EU-member
abroad about the state ish flags. terfered with in any way, could not afford to cover Cyprus over natural gas
of Turkish democracy and Erdogan campaigned whether by cutting off basic expenses. drilling rights.q