Turkey local elections: Erdogan's AK Party calls for recount of votes

Istanbul [Turkey], Apr 7 (ANI): The ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan here on Sunday appealed to the country’s top election authority to recount the votes cast in all districts of Istanbul during the recently held local elections.
Addressing the media here, Anadolu Agency quoted Justice and Development (AK) Party Deputy Chairman Ali Ihsan Yavuz as saying, "Only 70 per cent of the invalid votes have been counted so far."
"There is organized irregularity, organized abuse here. They are beyond errors," Yavuz added.
According to unofficial results, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamoglu led in Istanbul with 48.79 per cent of the votes, while Binali Yildirim of AK Party followed the former with 48.51 per cent of the votes.
However, the AK Party noted that a recount of votes might change the election results.
Millions of Turkish voters cast their votes nationwide last Sunday in the local elections to choose Turkey’s mayors, city council members, mukhtars (neighborhood officials), and members of elder councils for the next five years.
Although Erdogan was not running the election race for the office, he was the face of the election campaign and rallied tirelessly for two months ahead of Sunday's vote, which he described as a “matter of survival” for his nation.
According to Al Jazeera, election observers viewed this municipal election to be the first nationwide referendum on Erdogan’s leadership since he won presidential polls last year in June.
According to unofficial results, the AK Party is leading in 15 metropolitan municipalities (larger cities) and 24 smaller cities.
The local elections triggered international criticism after Erdogan repeatedly aired footage of the New Zealand mosque attacks, which claimed lives of 50 people during Friday’s prayers in Christchurch, during his election campaign. (ANI)