Turkey’s opposition mayoral candidate won the mayoral election re-run in Istanbul on Monday, giving longtime Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a stinging defeat.
Harold Rhode, a former adviser on Islamic affairs and specialist on Turkey in the U.S. Department of Defense and now a distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute think tank, told JNS that this is “a huge blow” for Erdoğan as Istanbul is the economic and cultural center of the country.
Ekrem Imamoğlu of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) got about 54 percent of the vote, more than in the previous victory three months ago, Reuters reported. The previous election was canceled after protests by Erdoğan’s AK Party claiming voting irregularities.
“Erodoğan figured he could manipulate the re-vote, but there was around a 800,000 vote difference and not much he could do to change that,” said Rhode. As a fallout of this loss, within Erdoğan’s Islamist AK Party “there are now rumblings among factions that may consider breaking off from the party,” added Rhode.
This could become a serious threat to Erdoğan if this would occur.
The Turkish expert said that Erdoğan, like other politicians, may have overstayed his welcome, and the people are now turning against his overbearing rule.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoğlu said on Monday that Turkey purchased the Russian S-400 missile-defense system despite pressure by the United States to cancel the deal.
“No matter what sanctions decision, no matter which statement comes from the U.S., we have already bought the S-400s,” Çavuşoğlu told reporters, according to the Turkish Hürriyet Daily News. “Now we are talking about when the S-400s will be delivered to Turkey. It is not possible for us to give up on the purchase of the S-400.”
The United States warned on Thursday that sanctions against Turkey for planning to acquire the S-400 Russian missile-defense system is a “very viable” option, despite a threat by Erdoğan to retaliate were that to happen.