ISTANBUL—Turkish voters chose stability over change on Sunday in a key vote that threatened to diminish the power of scandal-plagued Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
Turkey’s 50 million eligible voters overlooked Erdogan’s attempt to limit free speech by shutting down Twitter and YouTube. They also ignored leaked wiretaps that allege he was involved in a corruption and bribery scheme and another leak alleging his top officials were plotting to begin a war with Syria. An espionage investigation regarding that leak is now underway.
Erdogan’s conservative Islamist Justice Development Party (AKP) took a majority of the mayoral elections across Turkey over the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition.
“Erdogan is No. 1,” said Istanbul resident Murat Demer Sunday evening after the polls closed.
“Before him, I had no car, no shop, no nothing. Now look outside. There are hotels, there are people from all over the world coming to visit and the streets are safe and clean,” Demer said as a street-cleaner passed by. “Only the TV people say he is bad.”
This election had been widely regarded as a referendum on Erdogan’s rule. If he wins a majority throughout Turkey, the three-term leader is likely to run as president of the republic. Under Turkish law, a prime minister can only serve three terms.
Erdogan has been extremely popular among working-class Turks for his economic policies, which have cut high interest rates and raised living standards.
