Political situation in Turkey

Expert: Erdogan's setback shows he is vulnerable

The fact that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP party lost in Turkey's three largest cities in the Turkish local elections on Sunday puts Erdogan in a "very difficult situation". That is what Turkey expert Paul Levin tells SvD.

Levin points out, among other things, that the party is once again losing in the president's hometown of Istanbul, where Erdogan himself was previously mayor. This despite the fact that the president has made it clear that he really wants to take back his grip on the city.

- It shows that he can lose. He is vulnerable. [...] It is both a real and a symbolic loss, says Levin.

The fact that it is instead Istanbul's incumbent mayor Ekrem Imamoglu who emerges victorious in the local elections may in the long run have consequences for the entire country, he continues.

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Analysis: Erdogan's power is not invincible

"A historically bad election result for Erdogan", is how SVT's Turkey correspondent Thomas Thorén describes Sunday's Turkish local elections, where President Erdogan's party AKP backs down sharply while the opposition party CHP took power in the country's three largest cities.

Thorén says that the result will not have any major effects for the national power.

- But there is a psychological effect of the result. The opposition has shown that Erdogan's long and strong hold on power is not completely invincible, he continues.

In the largest city of Istanbul, it is incumbent mayor Ekrem Imamoglu who secures a clear victory over AKP candidate Murat Kurum. DN's Nathan Shachar writes that Imamoglu has consolidated his position as Erdogan's given opponent in the next presidential election, if he is allowed to run.

"In last year's presidential election, the regime was about to block Imamoglu with fanciful accusations of terrorism," he writes.