Erdogan backs former environment chief to win back Istanbul

ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday entrusted a former environment minister to run for mayor of Istanbul and avenge the worst political defeat of the Turkish leader´s two-decade rule.

Murat Kurum will represent Erdogan´s Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) in March 31 municipal elections in which control of Turkiye´s main cities will be up for grabs. The secular opposition Republican People´s Party (CHP) seized back control of Istanbul for the first time since Erdogan ruled the city as mayor in the 1990s in watershed 2019 polls.

That vote also saw the opposition win back the capital Ankara and keep power in the Aegean port city of Izmir. The opposition´s control of Turkiye´s three main cities shattered Erdogan´s image of political invincibility and underscored the levels of resentment rising against his dominant rule.