Wednesday, June 26 2019 11:56

ArmInfo. The defeat of the candidate of the AKP Binali Yıldırım in Istanbul is primarily the defeat of Recep Erdogan throughout Turkey. Similar opinion was  expressed by ArmInfo associate expert AIMOB, turkologist Hayk  Gabrielyan.

On June 24, the candidate of the Republican People's Party, Ekrem  Imamoglu, won the re-election of the mayor of Istanbul. Turkish  President Recep Erdogan acknowledged the results of the vote and the  defeat of his colleague in the Justice and Development Party Binali  Yıldırım. After processing 99.4% of the vote, Imamoglu scored 54% of  the vote, and the former prime minister and ex-speaker of the  parliament Yıldırım - only 45.1%.

The AKP was defeated in the election of the mayor of Istanbul for the  first time since 2002. The first mayoral elections in Istanbul this  year were held in March 2019, but their results were canceled by the  authorities, which caused mass protests throughout Turkey.

"The defeat in Istanbul became a serious alarming bell about the need  for serious rearrangements in the ruling party. Accordingly, Erdogan  needs to begin preparations for the next parliamentary and  presidential elections of 2023 today. If you follow the logic of the  process according to which the opposition will win all local  elections until 2023 of the year, Erdogan may even lose power even  before the parliamentary and presidential elections, "said the  turkologist.

According to Gabrielyan, the AKP was defeated in Istanbul for several  reasons. First of all, it became possible due to Erdogan's mistakes,  omissions and adventurism both in the domestic and foreign policy of  the country. Together, all this led to serious problems in Turkey,  the depreciation of the lira, inflation, and, as a result, serious  public discontent.

Against this background, according to expert estimates, the  opposition in the face of the RPP has managed not only to mobilize  its own capabilities and forces, but also to win over the Kurdish  electorate. To this, in the opinion of the turkologist, one can add  the lack of the personal charisma inherent in Erdogan in Yıldırım.

"And of course, a significant role in the change of power in Istanbul  was Erdogan's decision to go for repeat elections. Considering that  this decision was not shared by all Erdogan's comrades in the party,  repeated elections and especially their results could turn against  him. And not only in the party, but also, in general, in the country.  This can reject a significant part of the AKP electorate in all  subsequent elections, "the turkologist concluded.