Izmir, one of the three key battlegrounds in Turkish local elections and an opposition stronghold, saw Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Cemil Tugay perform well in Sunday's elections.
With 90.47% of the ballot boxes counted, Tugay got 48.69% of the votes, followed by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) candidate Hamza Dağ at 37.02%.
The unofficial results in favor of the CHP would see Tugay replace incumbent Mayor Tunç Soyer, whose tenure has been fraught with numerous issues for Türkiye's third-largest metropolis.
"We tried to be at every street and every door of Izmir together with our friends. We tried to shake everyone's hand. Today is a new day for Izmir. We will be on the streets starting from tomorrow. We will be everywhere. We will be at your service until the end. Wherever the problem is, we will be there to solve it," said Soyer at a gathering of supporters late Sunday night.
Meanwhile, the opposition also dominated the provincial council elections with over 48.16% votes, while the AK Party was a close second with 30.87%.
Izmir, with a population of 4.36 million, had a total voters of 3,459,970. The turnout rate on Sunday's elections stood at 77.82%.
