In the local elections in Turkey, the candidates of the ruling party AKP by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the cities of Ankara and Istanbul are the first counts according to front.
The station NTV reported in the evening, after evaluation of half of the votes cast, the AKP candidate in Istanbul to 51 percent. In Ankara, the AKP candidate is after counting just under a quarter of votes at 51.6 percent.
Particularly in the economic metropolis of Istanbul and the capital Ankara, a narrow election outcome had been expected. Some of the voters are likely to have reacted to the economic crisis in the country. (Read more about the elections in Turkey here). Erdogan has called the elections a matter of survival for his country.
Shots in polling station
The local election was a mood test for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his conservative Islamic party AKP. Ankara and Istanbul have been governed by conservative mayors for more than 20 years. An electoral defeat would have been considered a deadlock for Erdogan. Erdogan himself was once Mayor of Istanbul.
Around 57 million Turks were called nationwide to elect mayors, local councilors and other local politicians. The vote took place simultaneously in all 81 provinces. According to official data, around 553,000 security forces were deployed nationwide. In a polling station in the eastern Anatolian Malatya, an incident occurred in which two members of an Islamist party were shot dead. According to media reports, a suspect was arrested. Erdogan had shaken himself over the incident and announced thorough investigations.
Turkey is in a difficult economic situation. In the week before the election, the Turkish lira fell sharply, even on the stock markets it had gone downhill.
In video: "Erdogan is ready to set the country on fire"
MIRROR ONLINE