Erdogan pledges to make corrections the after a major defeat in the local elections in Türkiye

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged on Monday to correct any mistakes that may have led to his party’s defeat in the country’s local elections, as the opposition benefited from economic problems and the alienation of Islamist voters, raising uncertainty about his reform plans.

The election result on Sunday represented the worst defeat for Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party after more than two decades in power, and also strengthened the position of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu as the president’s most important competitor in the future.

In elections that redrew the political map that had long been dominated by the Justice and Development Party, the Republican People’s Party swept most of the major cities after winning the largest number of votes for the first time in decades, and also penetrated Türkiye’s conservative center.

Analysts said that voters’ reluctance to support the Justice and Development Party is due to economic pressures resulting from the high inflation rate, which has reached nearly 70%, in addition to Erdogan’s policy that fuels division.

They added that the result destroys Erdogan’s hopes of amending the constitution to allow the extension of his rule beyond 2028, when his current term ends.

Although the Justice and Development Party and its allies enjoy a majority in parliament, Erdogan will need broader support or a successful referendum to amend the constitution.

Erdogan gave a sad speech in the early hours of Monday in which he said, “This isn’t the end for us, but it’s in fact a turning point,” acknowledging what he called the “loss of superiority” of the Justice and Development Party.

“If we make a mistake, we will fix it,” he told crowds at the AKP headquarters in Ankara, without indicating what changes he might make within his party or in policy.

Turkish stocks rose, Monday, and the Turkish lira, which has lost more than 80% of its value in five years, touched its lowest levels ever against the dollar in the wake of the opposition’s huge victory over the Justice and Development Party.

Erdogan made a sudden shift in economic policy after winning the general elections last year, raising interest rates dramatically to curb inflation expectations that had increased under his unconventional policy stance that he had taken for years.

Erdogan called for patience with the slowdown in economic growth and rising borrowing costs, and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said on Monday that the austerity program will continue.

However, the Justice and Development Party’s candidates were defeated in the elections in the cities of Istanbul and Ankara, and even in strongholds that strongly support Erdogan, such as the provinces of Bursa, Afyonkarahisar, and Adiyaman.

The Justice and Development Party in general suffered from arrogance as a result of excessive confidence, therefore, the Islamic New Welfare Party, which emerged as the third largest party in a big surprise by obtaining a support rate of 6.2%.

The new Welfare Party benefited from taking a tougher stance than Erdogan’s stance against Israel due to the Gaza war, which helped attract religious voters away from the Justice and Development Party, which has Islamic roots.

The Republican People’s Party (CHP), the party of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Türkiye, received nearly 38% support nationwide, more than two points ahead of the Justice and Development Party and shattering the 25% approval ceiling it had enjoyed this century.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu of the Republican People’s Party received 51% support in Istanbul, the largest city in Türkiye, 11 percentage points ahead of his rival from the Justice and Development Party, despite opinion polls indicating that the race is close.

İmamoğlu won despite the collapse of an opposition coalition after electoral defeats last year, reaching out to Kurds and others who are usually outside the base of the secular Republican People’s Party.

Also, CHP candidate and governor of the capital, Ankara, Mansur Yavaş, remained in office after success over his opponent from the Justice and Development Party candidate, Turgut Altınok, achieving a major victory with 60.43% of the votes.