Istanbul mayoral re-run: Erdogan congratulates Opposition candidate for projected win

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated the Opposition party's mayoral candidate for his projected win at the local elections' re-run here on Sunday.

Ekrem Imamoglu, the Republican People's Party's (CHP) candidate, won the mayoral elections, beating Binali Yildirim from the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, as per unofficial results, reports Anadolu Agency.

"I wish that the results of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality renewal election will be beneficial for our Istanbul. National will has manifested once again today. I congratulate Ekrem Imamoglu, who won the election according to unofficial results," Erdogan tweeted on Sunday night.

The two candidates had previously contested against each other in a mayoral vote on March 31 which was annulled by Turkey's top election body.

With 99.37 per cent of the ballot boxes opened, Imamoglu has secured 54.03 per cent of the votes, while Yildirim trails behind with 45.04 per cent of the votes.

"10,560,963 voters cast their votes in 31,342 ballot boxes including the ones in prisons and portable ballot boxes," Anadolu quoted Sadi Guven, head of the Supreme Election Council, as saying.

The official results are yet to be announced.