Turkey's municipal elections on Sunday constitute President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's worst electoral setback since his Islamo-conservative AKP party came to power in 2002. Erdogan personally got involved in the campaign for the municipal elections alongside his party's candidates, particularly in Istanbul which he wanted to reconquer at all costs.
The weight of the economic crisis and the inflation of 67% over one year make the daily lives of many middle-class Turks unbearable. The two largest cities in Turkey, held by the AKP and its Islamist predecessors between 1994 and 2019, saw their two outgoing mayors triumphantly re-elected.