Turkey’s Erdogan congratulates Istanbul mayor-elect

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulates the opposition candidate who won a repeat mayoral election in Istanbul and defeated Erdogan’s candidate for the second time.

Erdogan tweets: “I congratulate Ekrem Imamoglu, who has won according to unofficial results.”

Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP, contested the results of the first mayoral election, held March 31. Imamoglu won that contest with a narrow margin of 13,729 votes.

Turkey’s electoral board annulled the results and ordered a repeat election.

Unofficial returns from today’s election show Imamoglu beating Erdogan’s candidate, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, by more than 777,000 votes.

AKP still controls 25 of Istanbul’s 39 districts and holds a majority of seats in the municipal assembly.

— AP

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