Turks are casting their votes today, Sunday, in local elections across the country, focusing on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's efforts to regain control of Istanbul from his main rival Ekrem İmamoğlu, who aims to reinvigorate the opposition as a political force after bitter defeats in last year's elections. The Istanbul mayor İmamoğlu dealt Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party their biggest electoral blow in two decades with his victory in 2019. In response, the president secured his re-election in 2023 and won a parliamentary majority with his nationalist allies.
The elections today could either reinforce Erdoğan's control over Turkey, a NATO member, or indicate a shift in the divided political landscape of this important emerging economy. İmamoğlu's victory is viewed as fueling expectations that he could become a national leader in the future. Voting centers opened at 7 AM in eastern Turkey and will close at 5 PM, with preliminary results expected by 10 PM (1900 GMT).
### Polls
Polls indicate a close race in Istanbul, a city of 16 million people that drives the Turkish economy, where İmamoğlu faces a challenge from the Justice and Development Party candidate and former minister Murat Kurum. Factors likely to influence election outcomes include economic issues stemming from rampant inflation nearing 70%, as well as Kurdish and Islamist voters’ evaluations of the government's performance and their hopes for political change.
While the grand prize for Erdoğan is Istanbul, he also seeks to reclaim the capital, Ankara. The opposition won both cities in 2019 after they had been under the rule of Erdoğan's party and its Islamist predecessors for the past twenty-five years. Erdoğan's chances have improved due to the collapse of the opposition alliance that defeated him last year, although İmamoğlu still enjoys support from voters beyond the main opposition Republican People's Party.
Kurdish voters from the main pro-Kurdish party played a critical role in İmamoğlu's success in 2019. This time, their party, the Peoples' Democratic Party, is fielding its own candidate in Istanbul, but many Kurds are expected to set aside party loyalty and vote for İmamoğlu again. In the southeastern regions of the country, home to a Kurdish majority, the Peoples' Democratic Party is seeking to reaffirm its strength after the state ousted mayors from the pro-Kurdish party following the previous elections over alleged ties to militants.
Among the factors working against Erdoğan is the increasing support for the new Islamist Welfare Party due to its hardline stance against Israel regarding the war in Gaza and dissatisfaction with the Justice and Development Party's handling of the economy.
