'Votes still being counted in Istanbul mayoral race'

ISTANBUL

Votes are still being counted in the Istanbul metropolitan municipality race, said the mayoral candidate for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party on Monday.

Binali Yildirim told reporters that invalid votes cast on Sunday outnumber the vote gap tenfold, adding that his rival -- main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamoglu -- currently seems to have 25,000 more votes.

"There are 31,136 ballot boxes [in Istanbul]. If one vote is filled in incorrectly in each ballot box, this equals 31,136 votes, which is more than the difference."

"There are 319,500 invalid votes. The vote gap [between the candidates] is 25,000. So the invalid votes outnumber the gap tenfold," he said, adding that there were also irregularities, mistakes and wrong entries.

Yildirim also said the votes of two candidates were not expected to be "so close to each other".

AK Party will pursue the legal process with the documents it has.

He also thanked all Istanbulites and stressed that Turkey's Supreme Election Council (YSK) will have the final say.

"During my life, I have always tried to do useful work for my people. Henceforth, I will continue to serve my country and my nation no matter what my position is."

In Sunday's elections overall, Turkey's ruling party is leading with 16 metropolitan municipalities (larger cities) and 24 cities claimed by AK Party candidates, according to unofficial results.

Millions of Turkish voters cast their votes nationwide on Sunday in elections to choose Turkey’s mayors, city council members, mukhtars (neighborhood officials), and members of elder councils for the next five years.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev