The Erdogan bloc "loses Ankara", told Imamoglu elections that he had won the elections in Istanbul | New

Istanbul, Turkey – The Justice and Development (AK) party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), both declared that they had narrowly won the elections to the Istanbul city hall Sunday.

S addressing reporters in Istanbul, the National Alliance candidate, led by the CHP, Ekrem Imamoglu, quoting his party's data, said he had won by nearly 28,000 votes. A few minutes later, the provincial leader of the AKP party in Istanbul said that his bloc's candidate, Binali Yildirim, won with nearly 4,000 votes.

According to data shared by the state-run Anadolu agency, The National Alliance represented 48.65% of the vote, compared to 47.7% in Istanbul for the People's Alliance of Erdogan, with 99% of the vote counted.

The Turkish electoral council made no official statement on the matter, but its official said on Monday that they were telling votes from some of the polling stations in Istanbul.

In Ankara, preliminary results showed that the candidate of the national alliance, Mansur Yavas, won 50.9% of the vote, with 99% of the vote counted. He is followed by Mehmet Ozhaseki, candidate of the People's Alliance, in the capital, with 47.2%.

In the third city of the country, Izmir, Mustafa Tunc Soyer, candidate of the Alliance Nation, was in the lead with 58%. Nihat Zeybekci, the candidate of the Erdogan bloc, had 38.5%. Ninety-nine percent of the votes were counted.

At the national level, with 99% of provincial votes counted, the People's Alliance, which includes the AK party and the party Party of the Nationalist Movement of the far right (MHP), had obtained 51.7% of the votes.

It is followed by Nation Alliance, a coalition formed by the CHP and the right party rightwith 37.6%.

Erdogan promises economic reforms

The polls were a major challenge for Erdogan, in a context of high inflation and rising unemployment, caused by a major currency crisis last year.

At a press conference in Istanbul, Erdogan Sunday acknowledged that his party had lost control in several cities and had committed to putting emphasis on the implementation of economic reforms.

Erdogan, who was elected last year as the country's first executive president, The next elections will be held in June 2023, adding that Turkey would carefully implement a "strong economic program" without compromising the rules of the free market.

Murat Yetkin, a Turkish political badyst, told Al Jazeera that if "the The AK Party-MHP alliance led by Erdogan loses Istanbul [along with Ankara] likewise, it means a loss of control over five large cities in Turkey. "

"Even if Istanbul, with 11 million voters, is won with a few thousand votes, it will be seen as a major loss," he said.

"The results also show that the executive presidential system, designed to avoid coalitions, has led to a de facto coalition, with the AK party unable to maintain the majority without its symbiotic partnership with the MHP."

Ozgur Dilber, a CHP volunteer, said the results showed that the popularity of the AKP was decreasing, even though Erdogan's block had won in Istanbul.

"For me, the results are proof that the number of voters who want a change is increasing," he told Al Jazeera in front of the party's election control office.

Focus on the economy, security

Earlier this month, official statistics showed that in the last two quarters of 2018, the Turkish economy entered its first recession in 10 years, while inflation and interest rates rose soaring because of the fall of the currency.

In February, inflation rose to just under 20%, while the main interest rate of the Central Bank is currently 24%.

In the run-up to Sunday's vote, the Popular Alliance attempted to link local polling stations to internal and external risks to the country's security.

Erdogan often blamed foreign powers and "speculators" for the currency fluctuations and other economic problems facing Turkey – a message he repeated this week.

For its part, the main opposition alliance focused its campaign on the economic situation and its effects on citizens.

He also used Turkish flags in their campaigns, rather than party banners, with the apparent goal of attracting voters from different backgrounds.

Arzu Efeoglu contributed to this story from Istanbul

Follow Umut Uras on Twitter @Um_Uras