Whoa, a financial site even comments on this...
... Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan suffered an unprecedented defeat at the ballot box against the main opposition party amid rampant inflation and the highest borrowing costs since the president swept to power more than two decades ago.
Erdogan's AK Party fell behind the main opposition Republican People's Party, known as CHP, in Sunday's municipal elections for the first time ever, according to early results published by state broadcaster TRT.
Support for AKP stood at 35.6%, while CHP was leading the race with 37.6%, with about 98.5% of the ballots counted, TRT reported.
Poll results show voters turned against the ruling party in much of the country, but the change was more dramatic in urban areas. That was mainly due to persistently high inflation even after Erdogan allowed the central bank to raise the nation's key interest rate to 50%, the highest level since the ruling party first came to power in 2002. While higher lending costs resulted in a slump in consumer sentiment, they have yet to reverse the trajectory of price increases, which are running at an annual rate of just under 70%.
"Voters appear to have punished his party and candidates for economic hardships at the municipal elections," Emre Peker, Europe director for Eurasia Group, said of Erdogan.
AKP was set to win the mayor's seat in 24 cities, down from 39 in 2019. CHP was leading the race in 35 provinces, compared with 21 in the last election, TRT reported.
Erdogan acknowledged defeat in an address to his supporters in front of the AKP headquarters in Ankara, pledging "self-criticism."
"The March 31 elections mark a turning point. We weren't able to get the results in local elections that we were hoping for," Erdogan said. ...