Turkey's ruling AKP demands Istanbul mayor vote recount

President Erdogan's party will demand a recount for the hotly contested Istanbul vote race.

1 min read

07 April, 2019

Istanbul's mayor vote is up for a recount [Getty]

Turkey ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have demanded a recount of ballots cast in Istanbul's mayor race, after an opposition candidate was declared the winner.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party will make the demand by 5pm local time, the AKP vice president Ali Ihsan Yavuz said. The total recount for the city's total votes coincides with one for several of Istanbul's 39 districts.

An AKP spokesman said on Saturday that the party would accept the results of local election recounts in Istanbul as well as Ankara, no matter which party is declared the winner.

Despite winning most votes nationwide in last Sunday's election, the losses of Istanbul and Ankara would be one of their worst setbacks in the AKP's decade and a half in power.

Electoral authorities are conducting a recount in scores of districts in Ankara and in Istanbul where tallies showed the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamoglu with a very slim lead over the AKP in Turkey's biggest city.

Erdogan built his political career as mayor of the city before becoming prime minister and later president of Turkey.