Nathan Shachar: Painful loss in Ankara, for president Erdogan's AKP

When 98 percent of the votes counted led the AKP's candidate by a few thousand votes over the challenger from the CHP. The third city, Izmir, was, as usual, by a wide margin to the CHP.

the AKP posed in borgmästarvalen up on a joint list with the far-right MHP, while the CHP made common cause with the Best party, a utbrytarfalang from the MHP. In the election of the city council asked all parties listed on separate lists. Erdogan's AKP got 45 percent of the kommunrösterna in the whole country, and statsgrundaren Atatürk's CHP was 30 per cent.

results in Istanbul – the world's largest kurdish city, was due to the pro-kurdish HDP party, whose candidates are imprisoned and persecuted on a large scale, only set up in the kurdish regions where they were sure to prevail. HDP called on its supporters in the rest of the country vote for the other opposition parties, in the hope of inflicting the AKP damage, which is partly successful. But the CHP's victory in the Ankara was also due to the party won many högernationalisters support the CHP's candidate is a previously högernationalist.

the Last minister of the interior and högernationalisten Meral Aksener made a successful choice, with more than seven per cent of the votes, and defeated clear his moderparti MHP.

and thriller in its stronghold of Istanbul, how it works, is painful for the AKP. But the national race as the party bävat for did not materialize. Erdogan, who after some extremely valtäta year can look forward to a little more than four years without any choice at all, goes disappointed, but not particularly weakened from the sample.

He may need to work in peace, for there is no sinekur that await him. The great and urgent task for his part, is trying to get the economy on an even keel and to patch up relations with the united states – which in the eyes of many is one and the same thing. By all accounts, this means some very unpleasant concessions to Erdogan's part.

all that the united states ends its support to the syrian kurds, and that the disclosure of the kuppmisstänkte come true Fethullah Gülen, who resides in Pennsylvania. The first of these requirements can be realized, the other not. The united states on their side wants Turkey to abandon its plans to acquire the Russian team S-400, and instead buy the US system Patriot. Both the united states and NATO insist that the Russian system cannot be integrated with atlantpaktens other armament. A minor source of friction between countries is Erdogan's full support to the venezuelan regime, which have been able to sell off parts of its gold via Turkey. The united states suspected that Turkey also in other ways help president Maduro to bypass united states sanctions. The venezuelan foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza arrive on Monday to Turkey for consultations.