As Ekrem İmamoğlu backers revel in victory, attention shifts to how the president will react

The last partygoers went home as the sun came up. Across Istanbul on Sunday night, hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters danced in the streets waving Turkish flags and brandishing glasses of beer and raki after their candidate for mayor delivered the most serious blow to the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in his political career.

As municipal workers cleaned up on Monday morning, however, the front pages of Turkey’s pro-government newspapers downplayed the unprecedented success of the Republican People’s party (CHP) mayor-elect, Ekrem İmamoğlu.

Outside pick for opposition party built on voters’ good faith shown in March elections

Ekrem İmamoğlu was not a well-known figure in Turkish politics before March’s fateful local elections.

But by standing his ground in the fierce battle to become mayor of Istanbul, even after Turkey’s electoral board cancelled his victory, he has become President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s most high profile challenger in years and the unexpected new hope for Turkish democracy.

A shock mayoral win in March led the regime to void elections. Polls suggest a new ballot on Sunday may boost the anti-government vote

The graffiti appeared in Istanbul’s Gayrettepe neighbourhood one morning last month. It showed the word “justice” written on a piece of paper held up by a disembodied hand. With a lighter, the other hand was setting fire to it.

“Write down ‘justice’ on a bit of paper. And then burn its corners,” the tag read. Within a day it had vanished, painted over by a municipality cleaning team. For the Istanbul street artist who goes by the name of Pepe, work is a constant game of cat-and-mouse with authorities seeking to remove his political creations.

Turkey’s ruling party claims vote marred by ‘irregularities’ and ‘organised crimes’

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) has said it will demand a rerun of Istanbul’s disputed mayoral election, in the most definitive sign yet that the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is unwilling to accept a loss in the city where his political career began.

Local elections across Turkey on 31 March delivered shock initial results that appeared to show the AKP had narrowly lost control of Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, loosening Islamist control of Turkey’s two most important cities for the first time in 25 years.

Ruling party appeals over Istanbul poll, pushing back official outcome by a week

Official results in local elections that appear to have delivered a blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s dominance over Turkey have been pushed back until next week, as the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) said it had decided to lodge objections in Istanbul’s neck-and-neck mayoral race.

The head of Turkey’s election board, Sadi Güven, said on Tuesday that appeals in elections for mayors and municipal leaders in 30 cities, 51 provincial capitals and 922 districts would be evaluated this week and parties may file objections to board decisions on Friday, meaning final results were not expected until 11 April at the earliest.

AKP losses are unprecedented rebuke to Erdoğan’s authority and a backlash is feared

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan turned Turkey’s local elections into a referendum on his personal leadership. The results, showing his Justice and Development party (AKP) in retreat nationally and losing control of seven of Turkey’s 12 main cities, not counting Istanbul, will thus be viewed as a stinging personal repudiation.

The question now is, how will Erdoğan react? The man who has dominated Turkish politics since 2003 is a bad loser, unaccustomed to defeat. He cannot abide criticism in any form – and despite his claims to the contrary, the big swing against the AKP, on a 84.5% countrywide turnout, amounts to an unprecedented rebuke.

But early results point to opposition wins in Ankara and Istanbul, and recounts likely

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has claimed a decisive victory for his ruling party in local elections viewed as a crucial test of his leadership, even as initial results pointed to wins for the opposition in Istanbul and Ankara.

State media reported on Sunday that Erdoğan’s Justice and Development party (AKP) had lost control of Ankara to opposition bloc mayoral candidate Mansur Yavaş, ending 25 years of AKP dominance.

The Turkish president’s party could lose control of several cities as high inflation hits his core voters in the pocket

“Where are the onions? I can’t cook green beans without onions,” a middle-aged woman tells the vendor at one of Turkey’s new “people’s vegetables stalls” in Istanbul. “Where’s the aubergine and peppers? If you don’t have those, then what’s the point?”

Several dozen people queued at the white tent in the middle of Taksim Square one morning last week, one of 150 set up in Istanbul and Ankara by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to combat what he calls “food terrorism” – a steep rise in the cost of basic goods that is souring public opinion against the government before crucial local elections on Sunday.