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| Istanbul mayoral re-run: Erdogan's ruling AKP set to lose | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Turkey's ruling party is set to lose control of Istanbul after a re-run of the mayoral election, latest results show. | |
| The candidate for the main opposition party, Ekrem Imamoglu, has a commanding lead with more than 90% of votes counted. | The candidate for the main opposition party, Ekrem Imamoglu, has a commanding lead with more than 90% of votes counted. |
| He won a surprise victory in March which was annulled after the ruling AK party complained of irregularities. | He won a surprise victory in March which was annulled after the ruling AK party complained of irregularities. |
| The vote is being seen as a key test for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. | The vote is being seen as a key test for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. |
| Mr Imamoglu has won 53.6% of the vote with nearly 95% of ballots counted, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. | |
| His opponent, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, has conceded defeat. "I congratulate him and wish him good luck," he told supporters. | |
| Meanwhile, Mr Imamoglu said the result marked a "new beginning" for the city. | |
| "We are opening up a new page in Istanbul," he said. "On this new page, there will be justice, equality, love." | |
| Who are the candidates? | |
| Mr Imamoglu, 49, is from the secular Republican People's Party and is mayor of Istanbul's Beylikduzu district. | |
| But his name was barely known before he ran for mayor in the March election. | |
| Mr Yildirim was a founding member of Mr Erdogan's AKP and was prime minister from 2016 until 2018, when Turkey became a presidential democracy and the role ceased to exist. | |
| He was elected Speaker of the new parliament in February and before that served as minister of transportation and communication. | |
| Why was the previous result annulled? | |
| Mr Imamoglu's narrow victory of 13,000 votes in March was not enough for Mr Yildirim to accept defeat. | |
| The ruling party alleged that votes were stolen and many ballot box-watchers did not have official approval, leading the election board to demand a re-run of he vote. | |
| Critics argue that pressure from President Erdogan was behind the decision. |