Europe | Erdogan rebuffed

Turkey’s president fails to see off his most powerful rival yet

Annulling Istanbul’s mayoral election looks like a grave error

|ISTANBUL

CARS STREAMED down the main avenues of Turkey’s biggest city on the night of June 23rd, music and horns blaring. Street parties erupted in several neighbourhoods. Young people danced into the small hours. Ekrem Imamoglu, the man responsible for the commotion, stood atop a double-decker bus near his home, surrounded by a sea of elated supporters, and spoke the words that had become the rallying cry of his campaign. “Everything”, he said, “is going to be great.”

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Making him stronger”

How to contain Iran

From the June 29th 2019 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Ursula von der Leyen is bending down in front of a door. On the door is a sign that reads 'Danger! Hard right, keep locked'. In the bottom of the door is a cat flap. An arm is reaching out of the cat flap as she reaches down to take the hand.

Ursula von der Leyen has a new doctrine for handling the hard right

The boss of the European Commission embarks on a second term

Marine Le Pen (L) arrives at the Paris criminal courthouse for her trial on suspicion of embezzlement of European public funds

Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets

She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics


Donald Trump shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte as they meet in Palm Beach, Florida, United States, November 22nd 2024

The maths of Europe’s military black hole 

It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk


Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south 

Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale

Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats

The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare