Turkey’s main opposition vows to strengthen country

By Baris Gundogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish main opposition party leader on Sunday vowed to “strengthen” the country with democracy.

“We declared our commitment for democracy to whole world,” said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of Republican People's Party (CHP), after unofficial results of do-over mayoral election in Istanbul showed a convincing win for his party’s candidate.

“We are now crowning our republic with democracy and we will enlarge it, strengthen it,” Kilicdaroglu said in a speech in front of the party headquarters in capital Ankara.

“People who believe in democracy, those who stand for democracy, those who advocate democracy are proud of you. The whole world is proud of Turkey,” he added.

Kilicdaroglu also thanked his party and all organizers of CHP’s election campaign.

“It all started with our Justice March. We wanted justice and peace. […] We made our voices heard all over the world. We have overcome all obstacles together. Together, we have written a saga of democracy,” the CHP leader said.

According to unofficial results, with total of 99.37 % of ballots counted, CHP’s candidate Ekrem Imamoglu got 54.03% votes while his rival, Justice and Development (AK) Party's Binali Yildirim, bagged 45.09%.

Imamoglu and Yildirim vied to run the metropolitan municipality of Turkey's most populous city after a previous vote on March 31 was annulled by the country's top election council last month.

* Writing by Busra Nur Bilgic