Polls show political landscape in Turkey to change fundamentally: CHP

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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"The elections showed us that a new era is opening in Turkey. Politics will be different after these elections, signaling that the political landscape in Turkey will change fundamentally," Deniz Baykal, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party, or CHP, told a press conference.

"The elections gave us the hope to carry the country to a different point," Baykal added.

He said Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has seen its first political cracks appear with the results of the local elections revealing a decline in party’s popularity.

"This fracturing of votes is both meaningful and important. This is the first time the AKP has experienced such a political crack," he said.

With 100 percent of the vote counted in Sunday's local elections, the ruling AKP secured 38.76 percent of the vote for provincial assemblies, seen as a proxy for the general elections, according to unofficial results.

The result reveals an almost eight point decline in support for the ruling AKP compared to its previous electoral showing in 2007. The party had won more than 41 percent in the municipal polls held in 2004.

Opposition parties, including the nearest contender CHP, gained ground in Sunday’s elections. Support to CHP rose to 23.19 percent in the provincial assemblies’ election from 20.88 percent in the 2007 general elections and 18.23 percent in the 2004 local elections. 

Baykal told Tuesday's press conference that the results showed the AKP has been losing support, while the opposition has been strengthening its position.