Turkey’s Erdogan accepts his party’s defeat in local elections

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accepted that his political party was defeated in Sunday's local elections in Turkey, Al Arabiya television reported.

Erdogan noted that the election results were a "turning point" for his party, but vowed to "respect the nation's decision."

"Unfortunately, we did not achieve the desired results," he said while speaking at the headquarters of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). "Of course, we will respect the decision of the nation, we will not persist, we will not act against the national will, and we will not question the power of the nation."

In turn, the main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP), announced that it won again in the elections in Istanbul and the capital Ankara and managed to achieve success in several other cities that usually voted for the AKP.

According to preliminary data, the CHP is the leader in the whole country, collecting about 39 percent of the votes, which is the first result in the last 35 years, the media noted.

President Erdogan's AKP has ruled Turkey for more than two decades.