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AKP decisively wins municipal election in Turkey

30 March 2009 08:10 (UTC +04:00)

AKP candidate in Istanbul Kadir Topbash won 44.33 % votes and was elected the mayor of metropolitan municipality for the next five years. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who was Topbashâ€™s main rival and had high hopes for the victory, got only 36.88 % of the votes. AKP candidate in Ankara Melik Cogchek won 38.47 % votes and left his rival Murat Karayalchin (CHP) â€“ 31.5 % and Mansur Yavash (MHP) â€“ 26.9 % behind. Oppositionist CHP didnâ€™t cede its positions in Izmir, the fortress of Republicans, again. CHP candidate Aziz Kocaoglu won 53.44 percent of the votes in Izmir and left his rivals behind with a serious difference. AKP won the city municipal elections in 10 cities (Istanbul, Ankara, Gaziantep, Bursa, Konya, Sakarya, Samsun, Erzrum, Kayseri, Kocaeli), CHP â€“ in three (Antalya, Mersin, Izmir), MHP â€“ one (Adana), DTP â€“ one (Diyarbakir) and DSP â€“ one (Eskishehir). BBP candidate Dogan Ugur won more than 50 percent of the votes in Sivas, the hometown of BBP leader Muhsin Yazicioglu, who died in the helicopter crash recently. Totally, AKP won 39.02 %, CHP â€“ 23.22 %, MHP â€“ 16.14 %.
97 percent of the ballots were accounted throughout the country. The final results will be announced on Monday in afternoon.