Turkey's main opposition CHP party has seized control of the municipal councils in Istanbul and Ankara from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AKP party, according to preliminary results, an election authority official told dpa on Tuesday.
The news followed two days after the success of the centre-left and secularist CHP – Republican People's Party – in mayoral elections.
While the CHP secured the posts of mayor in both cities in the 2019 local authority elections, the municipal councils had remained in the hands of the Islamic conservative AKP – Justice and Development Party.
The mayors – Ekrem Imamoğlu in Istanbul and Mansur Yavas in Ankara – constantly said they were being blocked by the AKP. Erdoğan referred to their administrations as "lame ducks."
Imamoğlu accused the council of delaying loans for his construction and other projects. Yavas said the council had blocked his attempts to expand a water purification plant. All investment was being blocked, officials close to Yavas said.
Both CHP leaders have regularly accused the AKP central government in Ankara of politically motivated stalling.
Imamoğlu's administration accused the Economy Ministry of delaying approval for metro projects in the huge city, of blocking assistance to the population during the pandemic and of withholding loans from state banks.