Turkey Elections 2018: How did the largest cities vote?

With over 99 percent of ballot boxes open, Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected president under Turkey’s new executive presidential system, and his party, the AK Party, secured 295 seats in parliament with 42.6 percent of votes. 

The main opposition party, the People’s Republican Party's (CHP) presidential candidate, Muharrem Ince, also pulled some of its party's highest numbers in the past few decades, reaching 30.6 percent of the vote.

Also Turkish citizens abroad voted in record numbers in what was called one of the most high-stakes elections in Turkey’s history. 

Here’s a look at the parliamentary and presidential election results in Turkey’s biggest cities, as well as expat votes. 

Istanbul 

Istanbul is Turkey’s largest city, with a population of over 15 million. Split into three electoral districts, the AK Party secured the most votes in each of them. 

AK Party’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the most popular presidential candidate with 50 percent of the votes, while the CHP’s Muharrem Ince was second with 36.9 percent of the votes.  

In the parliamentary vote, the CHP’s vote share went down from 30.4 percent in the November 2015 general elections, to 26.4 percent in the June 24 elections. The AK Party also saw a drop in support from 48.7 percent to 42.7 percent, while the MHP’s share decreased from 8.6 percent to 8.3 percent. 

Izmir

The Aegean province of Izmir, the third-largest city in Turkey, is a CHP stronghold, having consistently voted for the party for over a decade. Leading up to the elections, the CHP presidential candidate drew some of the largest rally crowds in the party’s history and received 54 percent of the votes, followed by Erdogan, who had 32.9 percent. 

As in other major cities, in Izmir the CHP lost some parliamentary votes in this year’s elections, coming down from 46.8 in the 2015 elections to 41.3 in this year’s vote. The AK Party’s vote went up slightly to 31 percent from 28.7 percent, while the MHP lost a significant amount of votes, dropping from 11.3 percent to 6.3 percent. 

Ankara

Turkey’s capital and second largest city, usually known to vote for the AK Party, saw Erdogan get the most votes, with 51.5 percent of votes while Ince came second with 36.2 percent. 

In the parliamentary votes, the AK Party and CHP saw a slight reduction in votes – the AK Party from 48.8 percent in 2015 to 40.4 percent; the CHP from 30.8 to 26.1 percent; while the MHP saw a drop from 14.2 to 13.1 percent. 

Konya

Known to be one of the more conservative provinces in Turkey, the Central Anatolian city of Konya has consistently supported the AK Party. Erdogan received 74.2 percent of votes, while Ince came second with 13.7 percent. 

The AK Party saw quite a reduction in the parliamentary vote, from 74.52 percent in 2015 to 59.4 percent in 2018. The CHP remained nearly the same with 9.17 percent in 2015 and 9.7 in 2018. The MHP saw a rise from 11.4 percent to 15.5 

Antalya

The Mediterranean city of Antalya is known as one of the “swing provinces” of Turkey, with either a CHP or AK Party victory, though the AK Party has emerged with the most votes in the last two elections. Erdogan received the most votes with 42.8 percent of the votes, while Ince came in second with 38.8. 

The AK Party’s parliamentary percentage went down from 41.32 percent in 2015 to 35 in the 2018 vote. Both the CHP and MHP saw larger drops, going from 33.32 percent in 2015 to 29.1 percent in 2018 for the former, and 17.61 percent to 10.1 percent for the latter. 

Trabzon

Trabzon is one of the biggest cities in Turkey’s Black Sea region, bordering Erdogan's hometown, Rize. The AK Party has consistently gotten high votes in this city. Erdogan received 69.4 percent of the votes, while Ince came in second with 20.9 percent.

The AK Party’s parliamentary vote saw a large drop from 66.81 percent in 2015 to 56 percent. The CHP saw a reduction from 16.37 to 15.1 percent. The MHP saw a slight rise from 13.1 to 13.5 percent.

Expat votes

This year’s elections saw a record number of votes from Turkish citizens living abroad who cast their votes at foreign missions and customs gates. Turkish citizens living abroad voted for the first time in June 2015 parliamentary elections. 

With 98.07 percent of ballot boxes opened, Erdogan received the most votes from voters abroad, with 59.4 percent of votes, while Ince was second with 25.76 percent. 

Since the 2015 parliamentary vote, the AK Party percentages stayed nearly the same: 56.38 in 2015 to 51.02 percent in 2018. In the 2015 election, the HDP had received the second-highest percentage, with 19.17, but that dropped to 17.34 in the 2018 vote. The CHP’s numbers rose from 15.44 to 17.62 percent, and the MHP’s numbers saw a slight increase from 7.06 to 7.89 percent.