ANKARA (euronews) — Tensions are running high in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, between supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and those of the main opposition party, which dealt a heavy blow to the ruling AK Party in local elections at the weekend.

Erdogan’s AKP, in power for the past 17 years, saw its grip on the country’s main cities severely weaken in the March 31 poll, losing control of capital Ankara and of the third biggest city, Izmir, to the Republican People’s Party (CHP). But Istanbul, the country’s commercial hub and biggest city, remains a battleground for the two parties, which have both claimed victory.