Erdogan bloc 'loses Ankara' in local polls; Istanbul race tight - Aljazeera.com

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party is locked in a tight race for control of Istanbul, the country's largest city, as the main opposition alliance appears set to win the local election race in the capital, according to partial results.

With 99 percent of the votes counted in Istanbul, Binali Yildirim, the candidate of Erdogan's People's Alliance and a former prime minister, was in the lead with 48.7 percent, state-run Anadolu Agency said on Sunday. Ekrem Imamoglu, the candidate of the opposition Nation Alliance, had 48.65 percent. 

In Ankara, preliminary results showed that Nation Alliance candidate Mansur Yavas had garnered 50.6 percent, with 92 percent of the votes counted. He was followed by Mehmet Ozhaseki, the People's Alliance nominee in the capital, with 47.2 percent. 

In the third-largest city, Izmir, the Nation Alliance candidate Mustafa Tunc Soyer was in the lead with 58.1 percent. Nihat Zeybekci, the candidate of Erdogan's bloc, had 38.5 percent.

Nationwide, with 91.7 percent of the provincial votes counted, the People's Alliance, which is comprised of the AK Party and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), had secured 51.7 percent of the votes.

It was followed by Nation Alliance, a coalition made up by the centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) and the right-wing Good Party, with 37.6 percent.

Erdogan vows economic reforms

The polls posed a major challenge for Erdogan given a backdrop of high inflation and rising unemployment sparked by a major currency crisis last year.

Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul, Erdogan on Sunday acknowledged that his party had lost control in a number of cities, and pledged that he would focus on carrying out economic reforms.

Erdogan, who was elected last year as the country's first executive president, said the next polls would be held in June 2023, adding that Turkey would carefully implement a "strong economic programme" without compromising on free-market rules. 

Murat Yetkin, a Turkish political analyst, told Al Jazeera that if "the Erdogan-led AK Party-MHP alliance loses Istanbul [along with Ankara] as well, that means loss of control over five major cities in Turkey."

"Even if Istanbul, with 11 million voters, is won with a few thousand votes, it will be perceived as a major loss," he said.

"The results also show that the executive presidential system, which was designed to avoid coalitions, has led to a de facto coalition, since the AK Party cannot maintain majority without its symbiotic partnership with MHP."

Ozgur Dilber, a CHP volunteer, said the results showed that the AK Party's popularity was waning - even if  Erdogan's bloc won in Istanbul.

"To me, the results are a proof that the number of voters who want change is increasing," he told Al Jazeera outside the party's election monitoring office.

Focus on economy, security

Earlier this month, official statistics showed that in the last two quarters of 2018 the Turkish economy slipped into its first recession in a decade, as inflation and interest rates soared due to the currency meltdown.

190330150248508

In February, inflation stood at just under 20 percent, while the Central Bank's main interest rate is currently 24 percent.  

In the lead-up to Sunday's vote, the People's Alliance sought to link the local polls to internal and external risks threatening the country's security.

Erdogan has often blamed foreign powers and "speculators" for the currency fluctuations and other economic woes faced by Turkey - a message he repeated this week.

For its part, the main opposition alliance has focused its campaign on the economic situation and its effect on citizens.

It also used Turkish flags in their campaigns, rather than party banners, in an apparent bid to attract voters from different backgrounds.

Follow Umut Uras on Twitter @Um_Uras

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/erdogan-ruling-ak-party-takes-lead-key-local-polls-190331155748741.html

2019-03-31 21:47:00Z
52780253970434

Exit poll shows comedian leading Ukraine presidential election: 'The first step toward a great victory' - Fox News

Ukrainian comedian and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy holding his ballot before voting in the presidential elections in Kiev, Ukraine, on Sunday. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A comedian with no political experience received the most votes in the first round of Ukraine's presidential election, an exit poll projected Sunday night, with incumbent President Petro Poroshenko projected to place a distant second.

"This is only the first step toward a great victory," Volodymyr Zelenskiy, 41, told reporters in Kiev after the polls closed.

Zelenskiy, the star of a TV sitcom about a teacher who became president after a video of him denouncing corruption went viral, led the field of 39 candidates with 30.4 percent of the vote, according to an exit poll by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology and the Razumkov public opinion organization. Poroshenko tallied with 17.8 percent support while former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko placed third 14.2 percent, it said.

Officials results will be expected Monday morning, but if the exit poll result holds, Zelenskiy and Poroshenko will square off in a runoff election April 21.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko speaking at his headquarters Sunday night. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

In a case of life imitating art, Zelenskiy made corruption a focus of his candidacy. He proposed a lifetime ban on holding public office for anyone convicted of graft. He also called for direct negotiations with Russia on ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

"A new life, a normal life is starting," Zelenskiy said after he cast his ballot in Kiev. "A life without corruption, without bribes."

The vote was shadowed by allegations of widespread vote buying. Police said they had received more than 1,600 complaints of violations on voting day alone in addition to hundreds of earlier voting fraud claims, including bribery attempts and removing ballots from polling places. Ukraine's interior minister said his department was "showered" with hundreds of claims that supporters of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko had offered money in exchange for votes.

Zelenskiy's lack of experience helped his popularity with voters amid broad disillusionment with the country's political elite.

"Zelenskiy has shown us on the screen what a real president should be like," said voter Tatiana Zinchenko, 30. "He showed what the state leader should aspire for — fight corruption by deeds, not words, help the poor, control the oligarchs."

"(We have) no trust in old politicians. They were at the helm and the situation in the country has only gotten worse — corruption runs amok and the war is continuing," said businessman Valery Ostrozhsky, 66, another Zelenskiy voter.

The 53-year-old Poroshenko, a onetime confectionary tycoon, pushed successfully for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be recognized as self-standing rather than a branch of the Russian church.

However, he saw approval of his governing sink amid Ukraine's economic woes and a sharp plunge in living standards. Poroshenko campaigned on promises to defeat the rebels in the east and to wrest back control of Crimea, which Russia took over in 2014 in a move that has drawn sanctions against Russia from the U.S. and the European Union.

A military embezzlement scheme that allegedly involved top Poroshenko associates, as well as a factory controlled by the president, dogged Poroshenko ahead of the election. Ultra-right activists shadowed him throughout the campaign, demanding the jailing of the president's associates accused in the scheme.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

On Sunday night, Poroshenko called his second-place finish sobering, telling a news conference: "I don't feel any kind of euphoria. I critically and soberly understand the signal that society gave today to the acting authorities."

Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko both used the alleged embezzlement to take hits at Poroshenko, who shot back at his rivals. He described them as puppets of a self-exiled billionaire businessman Igor Kolomoyskyi, charges that Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko denied.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.foxnews.com/world/exit-poll-shows-comedian-leading-ukraine-presidential-election

2019-03-31 20:32:16Z
52780253479965

Erdogan bloc 'loses Ankara' in local polls; Istanbul race tight - Aljazeera.com

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party is locked in a tight race for control of Istanbul, the country's largest city, as the main opposition alliance appears set to win the local election race in the capital, according to partial results.

With 99 percent of the votes counted in Istanbul, Binali Yildirim, the candidate of Erdogan's People's Alliance and a former prime minister, was in the lead with 48.7 percent, state-run Anadolu Agency said on Sunday. Ekrem Imamoglu, the candidate of the opposition Nation Alliance, had 48.65 percent. 

In Ankara, preliminary results showed that Nation Alliance candidate Mansur Yavas had garnered 50.6 percent, with 92 percent of the votes counted. He was followed by Mehmet Ozhaseki, the People's Alliance nominee in the capital, with 47.2 percent. 

In the third-largest city, Izmir, the Nation Alliance candidate Mustafa Tunc Soyer was in the lead with 58.1 percent. Nihat Zeybekci, the candidate of Erdogan's bloc, had 38.5 percent.

Nationwide, with 91.7 percent of the provincial votes counted, the People's Alliance, which is comprised of the AK Party and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), had secured 51.7 percent of the votes.

It was followed by Nation Alliance, a coalition made up by the centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) and the right-wing Good Party, with 37.6 percent.

Erdogan vows economic reforms

The polls posed a major challenge for Erdogan given a backdrop of high inflation and rising unemployment sparked by a major currency crisis last year.

Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul, Erdogan on Sunday acknowledged that his party had lost control in a number of cities, and pledged that he would focus on carrying out economic reforms.

Erdogan, who was elected last year as the country's first executive president, said the next polls would be held in June 2023, adding that Turkey would carefully implement a "strong economic programme" without compromising on free-market rules. 

Murat Yetkin, a Turkish political analyst, told Al Jazeera that if "the Erdogan-led AK Party-MHP alliance loses Istanbul [along with Ankara] as well, that means loss of control over five major cities in Turkey."

"Even if Istanbul, with 11 million voters, is won with a few thousand votes, it will be perceived as a major loss," he said.

"The results also show that the executive presidential system, which was designed to avoid coalitions, has led to a de facto coalition, since the AK Party cannot maintain majority without its symbiotic partnership with MHP."

Ozgur Dilber, a CHP volunteer, said the results showed that the AK Party's popularity was waning - even if  Erdogan's bloc won in Istanbul.

"To me, the results are a proof that the number of voters who want change is increasing," he told Al Jazeera outside the party's election monitoring office.

Focus on economy, security

Earlier this month, official statistics showed that in the last two quarters of 2018 the Turkish economy slipped into its first recession in a decade, as inflation and interest rates soared due to the currency meltdown.

190330150248508

In February, inflation stood at just under 20 percent, while the Central Bank's main interest rate is currently 24 percent.  

In the lead-up to Sunday's vote, the People's Alliance sought to link the local polls to internal and external risks threatening the country's security.

Erdogan has often blamed foreign powers and "speculators" for the currency fluctuations and other economic woes faced by Turkey - a message he repeated this week.

For its part, the main opposition alliance has focused its campaign on the economic situation and its effect on citizens.

It also used Turkish flags in their campaigns, rather than party banners, in an apparent bid to attract voters from different backgrounds.

Follow Umut Uras on Twitter @Um_Uras

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/erdogan-ruling-ak-party-takes-lead-key-local-polls-190331155748741.html

2019-03-31 21:37:00Z
52780253970434

Erdogan's bloc takes lead in key local polls - Aljazeera.com

Share of vote (19:00 GMT)

Istanbul: People's Alliance 49.7%, Nation Alliance 48.65%

Ankara: People's Alliance 47.2%, Nation Alliance 50.6%

Izmir: People's Alliance 38.5%, Nation Alliance 58.2%

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party is in a tight race for control of Istanbul, the country's largest city, according to partial results in Sunday's local elections, as the main opposition alliance appears set to win in the capital, Ankara.

With 99 percent of the votes counted In Istanbul, Binali Yildirim, the candidate of Erdogan's People's Alliance and a former prime minister, was in the lead with 48.7 percent of the votes, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. Ekrem Imamoglu, the candidate of the opposition Nation Alliance, had 48.65 percent. 

In Ankara, preliminary results showed that Nation Alliance candidate Mansur Yavas had garnered 50.6 percent, with 92 percent of the votes counted. He was followed by People's Alliance nominee Mehmet Ozhaseki, with 47.2 percent. 

In the third-largest city, Izmir, the Nation Alliance candidate Mustafa Tunc Soyer was in the lead with 58.1 percent of the votes. Nihat Zeybekci, the candidate of Erdogan's bloc, had 38.5 percent. Ninety-two percent of the votes have been counted. 

Nationwide, with 92 percent of the provincial votes counted, the People's Alliance, which is comprised of the AK Party and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), had secured 52 percent of the votes.

It was followed by Nation Alliance, a coalition made up by the centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) and the right-wing Good Party, with 37.6 percent.

Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul, Erdogan acknowledged that his party had lost control of a number of cities in the elections, and pledged that he would focus on carrying out economic reforms.

Erdogan said the next elections would be held in June 2023 and that Turkey would carefully implement a "strong economic programme" without compromising on free-market rules. 

"If the AK Party-MHP alliance loses Istanbul, it will only hold one - Bursa - among the six largest cities of Turkey. Even if it does not lose Istanbul, this is still a major loss," Murat Yetkin, a Turkish political analyst, told Al Jazeera.

"These results show that although the country has a presidential system, we are actually governed by a coalition between the AK Party and the MHP. The ruling party needs the MHP for future elections."

Big test

The polls were seen as a major challenge for Erdogan and his party given a backdrop of high inflation and rising unemployment sparked by a major currency crisis last year.

Earlier this month, official statistics showed that in the last two quarters of 2018 the Turkish economy slipped into its first recession in a decade, as inflation and interest rates soared due to the currency meltdown.

190330150248508

In February, inflation stood at just under 20 percent, while the Central Bank's main interest rate is currently 24 percent.  

In the lead-up to Sunday's vote, the People's Alliance sought to link the local polls to internal and external risks threatening the country's security.

Erdogan has often blamed foreign powers and "speculators" for the currency fluctuations and other economic woes faced by Turkey - a message he repeated this week.

For its part, the main opposition alliance has focused its campaign on the economic situation and its effect on citizens.

It also used Turkish flags in their campaigns, rather than party banners, in an apparent bid to attract voters from different backgrounds.

Follow Umut Uras on Twitter @Um_Uras

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/erdogan-ruling-ak-party-takes-lead-key-local-polls-190331155748741.html

2019-03-31 20:59:00Z
52780253970434

Erdogan bloc 'loses Ankara' in local polls as Istanbul race tight - Aljazeera.com

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party is locked in a tight race for control of Istanbul, the country's largest city, as the main opposition alliance appears set to win the local election race in the capital, according to partial results.

With 99 percent of the votes counted in Istanbul, Binali Yildirim, the candidate of Erdogan's People's Alliance and a former prime minister, was in the lead with 48.7 percent, state-run Anadolu Agency said on Sunday. Ekrem Imamoglu, the candidate of the opposition Nation Alliance, had 48.65 percent. 

In Ankara, preliminary results showed that Nation Alliance candidate Mansur Yavas had garnered 50.6 percent, with 92 percent of the votes counted. He was followed by Mehmet Ozhaseki, the People's Alliance nominee in the capital, with 47.2 percent. 

In the third-largest city, Izmir, the Nation Alliance candidate Mustafa Tunc Soyer was in the lead with 58.1 percent. Nihat Zeybekci, the candidate of Erdogan's bloc, had 38.5 percent.

Nationwide, with 91.7 percent of the provincial votes counted, the People's Alliance, which is comprised of the AK Party and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), had secured 51.7 percent of the votes.

It was followed by Nation Alliance, a coalition made up by the centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) and the right-wing Good Party, with 37.6 percent.

Erdogan vows economic reforms

The polls posed a major challenge for Erdogan given a backdrop of high inflation and rising unemployment sparked by a major currency crisis last year.

Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul, Erdogan on Sunday acknowledged that his party had lost control in a number of cities, and pledged that he would focus on carrying out economic reforms.

Erdogan, who was elected last year as the country's first executive president, said the next polls would be held in June 2023, adding that Turkey would carefully implement a "strong economic programme" without compromising on free-market rules. 

Murat Yetkin, a Turkish political analyst, told Al Jazeera that if "the Erdogan-led AK Party-MHP alliance loses Istanbul [along with Ankara] as well, that means loss of control over five major cities in Turkey."

"Even if Istanbul, with 11 million voters, is won with a few thousand votes, it will be perceived as a major loss," he said.

"The results also show that the executive presidential system, which was designed to avoid coalitions, has led to a de facto coalition, since the AK Party cannot maintain majority without its symbiotic partnership with MHP."

Ozgur Dilber, a CHP volunteer, said the results showed that the AK Party's popularity was waning - even if  Erdogan's bloc won in Istanbul.

"To me, the results are a proof that the number of voters who want change is increasing," he told Al Jazeera outside the party's election monitoring office.

Focus on economy, security

Earlier this month, official statistics showed that in the last two quarters of 2018 the Turkish economy slipped into its first recession in a decade, as inflation and interest rates soared due to the currency meltdown.

190330150248508

In February, inflation stood at just under 20 percent, while the Central Bank's main interest rate is currently 24 percent.  

In the lead-up to Sunday's vote, the People's Alliance sought to link the local polls to internal and external risks threatening the country's security.

Erdogan has often blamed foreign powers and "speculators" for the currency fluctuations and other economic woes faced by Turkey - a message he repeated this week.

For its part, the main opposition alliance has focused its campaign on the economic situation and its effect on citizens.

It also used Turkish flags in their campaigns, rather than party banners, in an apparent bid to attract voters from different backgrounds.

Follow Umut Uras on Twitter @Um_Uras

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/erdogan-ruling-ak-party-takes-lead-key-local-polls-190331155748741.html

2019-03-31 21:20:00Z
52780253970434

Zelensky to face Poroshenko in Ukraine runoff: exit polls - Aljazeera.com

Kiev, Ukraine - Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky will face incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in a runoff vote for Ukraine's presidency, exit polls have shown.

Zelensky, a political novice who is better known for playing a president in a TV sitcom, was projected to win 30.6 percent of the votes cast on Sunday, according to surveys conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology and the Razumkov Centre.

"This is just a first step towards a great victory," he told supporters after the publication of the exit polls. 

Poroshenko, who has been in power since 2014, was forecast to come second, with 17.8 percent of the votes.

"I critically and soberly understand the signal that society gave today to the acting authorities," he said, accepting the projected results.

It was a different story for opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, who disputed the surveys that showed her coming third, with 14.2 percent of the votes. 

"I urge not to consider exit polls as the ultimate truth. This is an absolutely manipulative dishonest thing," said Tymoshenko, who has sought the presidency twice before.

Ukraine's Central Election Commission (CEC) is expected to announce preliminary results overnight on Monday. It said the voter turnout stood at 63.4 percent.

The decisive runoff will take place on April 21.

Zelensky's foreign policy

Dmitro Razumkov, Zelensky's political aide, told Al Jazeera that if the comedian won the second round of voting he would stand by the Minsk Agreement.

The accord was forged by France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia - the countries involved in talks known as the Normandy Format - to secure truce in the country's east between the Moscow-backed rebels and the Ukrainian army was a backbone to Ukraine's security.

Ukraine election - Comedian more popular than President Poroshenko (2:43)

"All sanctions put in place by the European Union against Russia are linked to the Minsk Agreement. If we try to annul it, we might lose these sanctions. It can't be," Razumkov said, speaking after Zelensky's speech at his campaign headquarters in Kiev.

"Zelensky's proposal is to add the United Kingdom and the United States to the Normandy Format as the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum to apply a joint pressure on Russia like a laser beam."

Under Zelensky, Razumkov said, Ukraine would continue aspiring to join the European Union and NATO, but it would hold a referendum on the issues only when the chance of doing so was realistic.

"We will not be selling air. Even Germany's [Chancellor] Angela Merkel said that the prospect is far. It doesn't mean that we will stop aspiring to join the EU; we must keep following the path and one day achieve it," he said.

"The story is similar with the NATO. We need to modernise the army and at the moment Ukraine is not in a position to do so.

"We will not be holding a referendum on these subjects 10-20 years ahead of time, but at a time when there is a realistic opportunity [to join the EU and NATO]."

Corruption, Russia, EU

The vote on Sunday was the first since the so-called Revolution of Dignity brought Poroshenko in power five years ago.

The 53-year-old, who was elected with almost 55 percent of votes in 2014, seems to have failed to rally his electorate despite his efforts to be seen as a passionate defender of the country's territorial unity, as well as the champion of the goal of joining the EU and NATO.

During his time in office, Poroshenko has reinforced the country's army and ratified the Association Agreement with the European Union, the document that enabled Ukrainians to trade with and travel to Europe without restrictions.

The incumbent president also secured the independence of Ukraine's Orthodox Church from its Russian counterpart. But he failed to rid the country of corruption or recover money stolen from Ukraine's coffers before he came to power.

Boriak, 37, lamented the absence of candidates caring about female rights  [Oksana Parafeniuk/Al Jazeera]

At a polling station in central Kiev, Sviatoslav Yurash, a 23-year-old working for Zelensky's election campaign team, told Al Jazeera he was backing the comic because "he will be pro-market, pro-Ukraine, pro-Europe, pro-NATO".

Tetiana Boriak, 37, said she voted for Poroshenko because she believed he was the only candidate who would resist Russia. 

"I do not think that other candidates will be able to negotiate with [Russia's President Vladimir] Putin. Poroshenko is the only one who will resist the way I think is correct," she told Al Jazeera.

The elections took place against a backdrop of war in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk region, with government forces fighting Russia-backed separatists that has killed more than 13,000 people. 

The conflict followed Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 which in turn came after Ukraine overthrew Moscow-backed leader Viktor Yanukovich earlier that year.

Several millions of the approximately 35 million eligible voters were unable or unwilling to cast their ballots in the occupied territories.

Poroshenko was elected with almost 55 percent of votes in 2014 [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]

Oleksandr Bondarenko, a 28-year-old software developer, said she had voted for Tymoshenko "because with her in the second round, we will have a better chance of defeating Poroshenko".

"This vote is very important for us because President Poroshenko has to leave. A lot of issues came up with his policies, especially with corruption," said Bondarenko.

Olena Peftiiva, 53, came to the polling station not only to cast her ballot but also make sure that her deceased husband's ballot is not used for rigging the elections.

"My husband has been dead for 10 years. But his election registration confirmation arrived at my address. This has not happened during previous polls. I came to the polling station to make sure that his ballot is destroyed," she said.

Follow Al Jazeera's Tamila Varshalomidze on Twitter @tamila87v

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/zelensky-face-poroshenko-ukraine-run-exit-poll-190331171422240.html

2019-03-31 20:27:00Z
52780253479965

Erdogan's bloc takes lead in key local polls - Aljazeera.com

Istanbul, Turkey - Partial results show that Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party is in the lead in Sunday's local elections seen as a test for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid concerns over the country's economy.

With 75 percent of the provincial votes counted as of 10pm (19:00 GMT), the AK Party-led People's Alliance had secured 52.2 percent of the votes countrywide, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. 

It was followed by Nation Alliance, a coalition led by the main opposition centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP), with 37.2 percent.

With 88 percent of the votes counted In Istanbul, the country's largest city and economic centre, Binali Yildirim, the candidate of People's Alliance and a former prime minister, was in the lead with 49.7 percent of the votes.

Ekrem Imamoglu, the Nation Alliance candidate, had 47.6 percent. 

In the capital, Ankara, preliminary results showed that Nation Alliance candidate Mansur Yavas had garnered 49.9 percent, with 78 percent of the votes counted. He was followed by People's Alliance nominee Mehmet Ozhaseki, with 47.8 percent. 

In the third-largest city, Izmir, the Nation Alliance candidate Mustafa Tunc Soyer was in the lead with 58.2 percent of the votes. Nihat Zeybekci, the candidate of Erdogan's bloc, had 38.2 percent. Seventy percent of the votes have been counted. 

Big test

The polls were seen as a major challenge for Erdogan and his party given a backdrop of high inflation and rising unemployment sparked by a major currency crisis last year.

Earlier this month, fficial statistics showed that in the last two quarters of 2018 the Turkish economy slipped into its first recession in a decade, as inflation and interest rates soared due to the currency meltdown.

In February, inflation stood at just under 20 percent, while the Central Bank's main interest rate is currently 24 percent.  

The AK Party entered the race with its ally in the last two polls, the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), under the People's Alliance. For its part, CHP joined forces with the right-wing Good (IYI) Party in the Nation Alliance.

Both blocs fielded dozens of joint candidates in the country's provinces, districts and towns.

Turkish gov’t sets up discounted food stalls ahead of local elections

Different strategies

In the lead-up to Sunday's vote, the People's Alliance sought to link the local polls to internal and external risks threatening the country's security.

Erdogan has often blamed foreign powers and "speculators" for the currency fluctuations and other economic woes faced by Turkey - a message he repeated this week.

For its part, the main opposition alliance has focused its campaign on the economic situation and its effect on citizens.

It also used Turkish flags in their campaigns, rather than party banners, in an apparent bid to attract voters from different backgrounds.

190330150248508

Ayse Kara, a 40-year-old voter in Istanbul, said she cast her ballot taking into account the stability of the country.

"I considered the economy and terror as the main issues while casting my vote. I believe everything will get more stable after the elections," Kara, who works in manufacturing, told Al Jazeera.

Ilke Beltinge, a 25-year-old student, said she did not like the country's current direction.

"I cast my vote for more freedoms, a better economy and a better educational system. And I hope that we will see change following these polls," she told Al Jazeera at an Istanbul polling station.

Two people were killed in the eastern province of Malatya, and dozens of others were wounded in various provinces of Turkey in fights that broke out in the voting process, state media reported.

Follow Umut Uras on Twitter @Um_Uras

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/erdogan-ruling-ak-party-takes-lead-key-local-polls-190331155748741.html

2019-03-31 18:58:00Z
52780253970434