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photo source: The National

Posted by: Vasile Cojocari

News / International

24 June 2019 / 10:12

Erdogan's party suffers blow after Istanbul re-run poll defeat

Turkey's ruling AK Party has lost control of Istanbul after a re-run of the city's mayoral election, delivering a stinging blow to President Erdogan, BBC reports.

With nearly all ballots counted, main opposition party candidate Ekrem Imamoglu had a lead of 775,000 votes, a huge increase on the margin of 13,000 he achieved in the earlier election.

That victory in March was annulled after the AKP alleged irregularities.

The result ends 25 years of AKP rule in Istanbul.

The AKP's candidate, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, conceded to his opponent.

On Twitter, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote: "I congratulate Ekrem Imamoglu who has won the election based on preliminary results."

Mr Erdogan had previously said that "whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkey". He has ruled the country since 2003 both as prime minister and now president, becoming the most powerful leader since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic.

With 99% of votes counted, Mr Imamoglu had 54% of the vote and Mr Yildirim 45%.

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