When Turkey’s President Erdogan and his ruling party lost control of Istanbul, the result was cancelled and a re-run was ordered. Last night, voters gave their verdict on the President’s autocratic rule in emphatic style. March’s narrow 13,000 vote victory for the opposition was transformed into a far larger majority of more than three quarters of a million. Erdogan himself once said “whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey”. So now he’s lost it, is this a sign the country is finally turning against its strongman leader?

Erdogan’s party defeated in Istanbul mayoral election