New Istanbul mayor rallies supporters for 'new beginning'

Istanbul's new mayor rallied hundreds of thousands of supporters on Sunday to celebrate a "new beginning" urging people to unite after he won a highly contested race against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party.

Ekrem Imamoglu, 49, of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), narrowly edged out his rival to capture Istanbul mayor's office in a stinging setback to Erdogan's ruling AKP after a decade and a half in power.

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) is still seeking a rerun of the March 31 Istanbul ballot, but electoral authorities last week handed Imamoglu his mandate after he won a slim 13,000-vote lead over AKP's Binali Yildirim.

Waving Turkish flags and portraits of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, thousands of Imamoglu supporters packed the vast Maltepe shoreside area on the Asian side of Istanbul for the rally.

Imamoglu, a soft-spoken former district mayor who struck a conciliatory tone throughout the heated race, has vowed to serve all citizens of the 16-million strong city, regardless of their political inclinations.

"I will work, produce solutions and achieve results. This is my promise to each and every one of the 16 million Istanbul people," he told the rally.

"Nobody will be discriminated against."
Imamoglu vowed an "accountable and transparent municipality," saying: "We will not waste a single penny."