ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s ruling AK Party (AKP) candidate for Istanbul mayor said he had won Sunday’s election but his opposition rival said the declaration was premature.
Speaking after more than 98 percent of ballot boxes had been opened, AKP candidate and former prime minister Binali Yildirim said his party had won. Opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu dismissed Yildirim’s statement as a “manipulation” and said that votes were still being counted.
Turkish broadcasters said the latest count, with 98.8 percent of ballot boxes opened, showed Yildirim with a razor-thin lead having secured 4,111,219 votes against Imamoglu’s 4,106,776.
(Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Dominic Evans)
