ISTANBUL — A European group observing Turkey's local elections criticized on Monday curbs on the free expression of citizens and journalists a day after local polls in which Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan suffered stunning setbacks as his ruling AK Party lost control of the capital Ankara for the first time since the party's founding in 2001.

The head of the observation mission carried out by the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities cited the need for people to express opinions without fear of government reprisal.

"I am afraid we...are not fully convinced that Turkey currently has the free and fair electoral environment which is necessary for genuinely democratic elections in line with European values and principles," said Andrew Dawson.

"But we do take the fact that many parties have been successful as a positive sign of Turkey's democratic resilience," he told reporters in Ankara.

Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics since coming to power 16 years ago and ruled his country with an ever tighter grip, campaigned relentlessly for two months ahead of Sunday's vote, which he described as a "matter of survival" for Turkey.

But his daily rallies and overwhelmingly supportive media coverage failed to win over voters in the two main cities, as last year's punishing currency crisis weighed heavily on Turks.

"The people have voted in favor of democracy, they have chosen democracy," said opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, whose secularist CHP also held its Aegean coastal stronghold of Izmir, Turkey's third largest city. — Agencies

Despite eking out majority support across the country, defeat for Erdogan's Islamist-rooted party in Ankara was a significant blow for the president. The possibility of losing Istanbul, where he launched his political career and served as mayor in the 1990s, was an even greater shock.

The Turkish lira, which swung wildly https://tmsnrt.rs/2CEaO11 in the week ahead of the elections echoing last year's currency crisis, weakened on Monday as much as 2.5 percent against the dollar before recovering early losses. — Agencies