Striding across the stage with shirtsleeves rolled up, Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was received like a rock star at his re-election rally on Sunday. Revellers lit the sky with flares, dancing and singing as car horns pierced the city’s air late into the night.
Meanwhile in Ankara, a sombre Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech that was considered almost unthinkable from Turkey’s strongman leader: conceding defeat in an election.
Erdoğan’s Justice and Development party (AKP) failed not just to topple İmamoğlu, the opposition’s most important politician, but also faltered in races up and down the country, including losing contests in Turkey’s five biggest cities.