In Pictures, Voters Judge Turkey’s Leader

Turkish voters hit the polls to select mayors across the country on Sunday. Although the elections were municipal, they are widely seen as a referendum on the administration of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who took office in 2003, and his conservative, Islamist party Justice and Development Party (AKP)

In Istanbul — Turkey’s economic and cultural center, and where a fifth of the country’s population resides — the race is particularly important. Incumbent mayor, AKP’s Kadir Topbas, faces a stronger-than-ever opposition candidate Mustafa Sarigul of Republican People’s Party (CHP), a secular, semi-nationalist party that champions the legacy of Turkey’s first president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Polling stations were busy, with long lines of voters waiting to cast ballots in some locations. Read more…

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