Turkish opposition Istanbul mayoral candidate Ekrem Imamoglu receives certificate of election

Turkish opposition Istanbul mayoral candidate Ekrem Imamoglu receives certificate of election
# 17 April 2019 18:27 (UTC +04:00)

Nation Alliance candidate Republican People's Party's (CHP) Ekrem Imamoğlu on Wednesday received the official mandate for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) 17 days after the hotly contested elections which are still subject to appeals over irregularities, ONA reports citing Daily Sabah.

Imamoğlu was invited to the provincial election board in Çağlayan Courthouse after the board rejected Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) application to postpone the process until an extraordinary appeal for irregularities is concluded by the Supreme Election Council (YSK).

The recounts over appeal processes before district and province election boards were concluded early Wednesday as the count in Maltepe district has been concluded.

According to the final tally of the provincial election board, Imamoğlu carried the elections with 4,169,765 votes against People's Alliance candidate AK Party candidate Binali Yıldırım's 4,156,036 votes, with a gap of only 13,729 votes. The initial difference in votes announced by the YSK was 28,000 as of the morning of April 1, the day after elections.

A handover ceremony is expected to be held at the IBB headquarters in Fatih district at 6 p.m.

Although Imamoğlu will officially start to serve as Istanbul metropolitan mayor, AK Party's appeal will be overseen by the YSK.

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THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED