Day of glory for the Istanbul Stock Exchange, which in the middle of the morning travels up by 1,63%, while the European lists all move below parity. In the same minutes, Piazza Affari dropped by 0,3%, better than Frankfurt (-0,5%), but worse than Paris (-0,15%).
The wave of purchases on the Turkish list comes in the aftermath of the new, sensational electoral defeat suffered by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It was at stake the administration of Istanbul, the most populous city in the country (16 million inhabitants) and also the most important from an economic point of view: it is here that 31% of Turkish GDP is produced.
The new mayor responds to the name of Ekrem Imamoglu, candidate of the secular and republican opposition. In truth, Imamoglu had already won the local administrative elections in Istanbul on March 31st, but the Sultan had managed to cancel the vote, accusing the opponent of fraud.
However, the return to the polls was resolved in an even worse defeat for Erdogan's party, given that Imamoglu has increased (and not just) his share of the vote, beating Erdogan's candidate, Binali Yildirim, with 54% of the votes.
On May 6, the elections authority had canceled the result of the first vote and the decision was perceived throughout the country as an injustice, which further increased the popularity of the lay candidate.
"I will be the mayor of 16 million people, no one will be excluded, the time of prejudices, divisions, conflicts is over, I want a city where everyone, in their diversity, embraces each other", declared the new mayor immediately after the victory republican.
However, Imamoglu also sent a soothing message to the President: “I ask him to work with us. This is our wish. There is so much to do and we are tired of political feuds”.
The defeat of the President, who loses Istanbul after a 25-year rule, was also greeted by a sharp rise in the Turkish lira (+ 1,5%).
