Erdogan’s party and opposition both claim victory in neck-and-neck Istanbul race

Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and its main opposition rival, the social-democratic Republican People's Party (CHP), both claimed victory in a tightly-contested Istanbul mayoral election on Sunday night. CHP candidate Ekrem Imamoglu stated that his party’s data “guarantees” his triumph, claiming that he won by a margin of 28,000 votes. The AKP provincial head disputed the claim, saying that the AKP party took the victory by gaining 4,000 more votes than CHP. Earlier on Sunday, Erdogan appeared to admit that his party might lose Istanbul, while nevertheless hailing the conservatives’ overall performance at the local elections.

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