Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu, has urged the country’s electoral board to “do its job” and confirm his election win.
But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed opposition that “nobody has the right to put on airs of victory in a city of more than 10 million voters with a 13,000-14,000-vote lead;” protesting: “As for the irregularities, it was not just in some places; almost all of it is irregular.”
Erdogan said when there was a problem with a margin of vote victories in other countries, appeals and even new elections were not unusual.
The president, however, added that his party would accept results confirmed by the top electoral board.
The CHP candidate for mayor of Ankara, Mansur Yavas, received a document certifying his election win and took over the municipality in a brief ceremony on Monday.
“May it be Istanbul’s turn next,” he said.
After 16 years in power, Erdogan is praised by supporters who say he oversaw a period of economic growth and prosperity.
But his critics at home and among Western allies say the Turkish leader has undermined democracy by purging dissent, especially in the wake of a 2016 failed coup Ankara blames on a US-based Turkish preacher.
Erdogan campaigned hard portraying the local vote for mayors and district councils as a fight for the nation’s survival, but the election became a test of AK Party’s support after an economic slowdown hit Turkey.