Sad Day For Erdogan's Pakistani Supporters As He Suffers Major Setback In Local Elections

Sad Day For Erdogan's Pakistani Supporters As He Suffers Major Setback In Local Elections
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered a major setback on Sunday as it lost municipal elections in İstanbul and Ankara.

“Even if we may not have won the metropolitan municipality mayoralties in İstanbul, we have won most of the district municipalities,” Turkey President Teyyep Erdogan announced, confirming defeat in Istanbul.

Opposition member Ekrem İmamoğlu won by margin of thousands, a rather small figure in a city with over 20 million voter population.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZoKhzPn3CU&t=3s

Turkish news agency Anadolu said that the ruling AKP gained 45 percent of the votes countrywide, while its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), won nearly 7 percent.

The ruling party, however, has made claims of rigging. AKP General Secretary Fatih Sahin took to Twitter and said that "we will use our legal rights to the fullest, and we will not allow the will of our citizens to be altered in Ankara."

Moreover, the AKP will also challenge the results in Istanbul.

But President Erdogan is already looking forward to the 2023 elections. Erdogan vowed to bring economic reforms that are necessary to counter the downturn."If there are any shortcomings, it is our duty to correct them," he said.

Erdogan's defeat has saddened his massive fanbase in Pakistan too.

'It's sad news for me, Erdogan lost the local elections in Ankara after 25 years on power. 25 out of 30 provinces are flooded,' says Twitter user Muhammad Harris Khattak.

https://twitter.com/MdHarisKhattak/status/1112619886356893696

The Turkish president has earned a lot of support in Pakistan. According to a Spectator Index poll, 90% people in Pakistan have full faith in Erdogan's leadership, twice as much as the people of Turkey.

https://twitter.com/spectatorindex/status/1111217967528706049

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