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.
A strong showing for Erdogan’s ruling Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party, or the AK Party, would likely harden his resolve to usher in a new constitution – one that would reflect his conservative values and allow him to rule beyond 2028, when his current term ends, analysts say.
For the opposition – divided and demoralised after a defeat in last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections – keeping Istanbul and Ankara would be a tremendous boost and help remobilize supporters.
Some 61 million people, including more than a million first-time voters, are eligible to cast ballots for all metropolitan municipalities, town and district mayorships as well as neighbourhood administrations.
