Turkey: Opposition party candidate leads Istanbul vote

By Duygu Yener

ANKARA (AA) - The main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) candidate is leading in the mayoral race in Istanbul, Turkey's most populous city, over the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, the Turkish elections authority said Monday morning.

Sadi Guven, the head of Turkey's Supreme Election Council (YSK), said CHP candidate Ekrem Imamoglu is leading with 4,159,650 votes over the AK Party's Binali Yildirim with 4,131,761.

Speaking to the reporters in capital Ankara, Guven said "so far a total of 31,102 ballot box results [in Istanbul] have been were defined to system, 84 ballot box results have not been completed because of objections."

In Sunday's elections overall, Turkey's ruling party is leading with 16 metropolitan municipalities (larger cities) and 24 cities claimed by AK Party candidates, according to unofficial results.

Millions of Turkish voters cast their votes nationwide on Sunday in elections to choose Turkey’s mayors, city council members, mukhtars (neighborhood officials), and members of elder councils for the next five years.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev