ISTANBUL, April 1, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) announced he had been re-elected in Sunday's local elections there.

"We are in first position with a lead of more than a million votes ... We have won the election," he told reporters, adding that 96 percent of ballot boxes had been opened. The city topped the list of targets for President President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP after losing it to Imamoglu in 2019.