People in Istanbul near the Ottoman-era Mecidiye mosque in Ortakoy square and the July 15th Martyrs bridge, formerly known as Bosporus Bridge (Emrah Gurel/AP)
The opposition’s candidate for mayor of Istanbul has urged Turkey’s electoral body to confirm his narrow victory in local elections and has asked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to act to prevent the country from sliding into uncertainty.
Preliminary results show Mr Erdogan’s ruling party lost its decades-old stronghold of Ankara in Sunday’s vote and in the tight race for Istanbul.
Ekrem Imamoglu, the main Turkish opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, candidate for Istanbul (Burhan Ozbilici/AP)
Opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu spoke on Wednesday, a day after Mr Erdogan’s party appealed against the results in all of Istanbul’s 39 districts, claiming the vote was “stained”.
The supreme electoral board ruled in favour of a recount in eight of the districts.
Mr Imamoglu called on Mr Erdogan and his nationalist ally to stop a slip into “worrisome atmospheres” and to work with him to improve the economy and ensure a return to “normality”.
Opposition candidate urges electoral board to confirm win in Istanbul mayor race
