ISTANBUL

Turkey's opposition party mayoral candidate on Sunday thanked Istanbulites for “protecting democratic tradition”, as unofficial results of Istanbul’s local election rerun showed a comfortable win for him.

Speaking to media in Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, candidate of the Republican People's Party (CHP) said, “You protected the dignity of Turkey’s democracy in front of the whole world.”

"You protected our more than a century-old democratic tradition, thanks to fellow citizens of Istanbul,” he said.

Imamoglu said the outcome of the election is not a “victory” but a “new beginning” for the city.

According to unofficial results, With 99.37% of ballot boxes opened, CHP's Imamoglu got 54.03% of the votes, while AK Party's Yildirim received 45.04% as of 8.00 p.m. local time (1700GMT).

Imamoglu and Binali Yildirim of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party vied to run the metropolitan municipality of Turkey's most populous city after a previous vote on March 31 was annulled by the country's top election council last month.