Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Istanbul, June 24: Turkish opposition has dealt a blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by winning control of the nation’s largest city of Istanbul in a re-run mayoral poll, breaking Erdogan’s environment of invincibility and delivering “unhappy” messages from voters over his policies.

The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) led by Ekrem Imamoglu has secured 54.21 percent of votes against the president’s party, state-run Anadolu news agency reported –  a wider winning margin that of three months ago.

The previous result of the election was declared invalid after the AK Party-led by Erdogan practiced protests, saying there had been widespread irregularities. The decision to rerun the election was condemned by several western allies and has also caused disturbance among opponents who stated Ankara’s democracy was under threat.

Tens of thousands of the opposition supporters on Sunday celebrated in Istanbul’s streets after the ex-businessmen hailed victory over the president’s handpicked contender by around 800,000 votes.

According to Reuters news reports, Imamoglu told supporters.“In this city today, you have fixed democracy. Thank you, Istanbul.”

“We came to embrace everyone,” Imamoglu said. “We will build democracy in this city, we will build justice. In this beautiful city, I promise, we will build the future.”

The formal outcome of the vote is due to be released by the high electoral board, but Erdogan already congratulated Imamogolu for winning, as well as, Bina Yildirim, Imamoglu’s rival of the AK Party congratulated him.

 

 

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