The aftershocks of the political earthquake triggered by Sunday’s municipal elections in Turkey that saw the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lose key cities to the main opposition continue to reverberate with some AKP candidates refusing to formally concede defeat, notably in the country’s commercial powerhouse Istanbul.
But few believe the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will risk unleashing a wave of popular protests that would further destabilize the economy, whose lagging performance was seen as a key factor driving the opposition's hefty gains.