In Istanbul, the AK Party said former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim defeated his CHP rival Ekrem Imamoglu by a mere 4,000 votes - with both candidates polling more than 4 million votes. In a speech to supporters in Ankara, Erdogan appeared to accept AKP defeat in Istanbul, although he maintained that most neighbourhoods in the city were held by his party. "Even if our people gave away the mayorship, they gave the districts to the AK Party," he said. "Today's elections are as historic as that of 1994," prominent journalist Rusen Cakir tweeted, referring to the year Erdogan was elected mayor of Istanbul. "It's a bad night for the AK Party," he said.

Source: bd News24 April 01, 2019 02:15 UTC