Polls open in Turkey local elections in key test of Erdogan’s popularity
Al Jazeera
Vote will decide who gets to control Istanbul and capital Ankara, both of which the Turkish president lost in 2019.
Polls have opened in Turkey for local elections in a crucial test for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he seeks to win back control of key urban areas he lost to the opposition five years ago.
Voting stations opened on Sunday at 7am local time (04:00 GMT) in eastern Turkey, with voting elsewhere starting at 8am and ending at 5pm. Initial results are expected by 10pm (19:00 GMT).
The vote is a barometer of Erdogan’s popularity and will decide who gets to control the economic hub of Istanbul and the capital Ankara, both of which he lost in 2019.
The 70-year-old Turkish leader has set his sights on wresting back Istanbul, a city of 16 million people, where he was born and raised, and where he began his political career as mayor in 1994.
“Winning major cities is more of a deal for the opposition, but also it means access to foreign funds, having transnational links with both economic actors and political actors,” Evren Balta, professor of political science at Turkey’s Ozyegin University, told Al Jazeera.
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