Erdogan’s party suffers biggest election upset in more than 20 years

Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party suffered their biggest upset in more than two decades on Sunday as the opposition swept municipal elections in Istanbul and other major cities.

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) retained mayoral seats in two key cities – Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.

The CHP also gained 15 new mayoral seats in cities across the country, advancing in locales that were previously strongholds of the Turkish president and his AK Party (AKP), marking the worst defeat since the latter came to power 21 years ago.

In all, the CHP won 36 municipalities in Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to Anadolu, a state-run news agency.

Thirty-seven per cent of votes nationwide went to the CHP, compared with 36 per cent for the AKP.