The US Consulate General in İstanbul on Monday released a congratulatory message for Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was elected mayor of İstanbul on Sunday in a repeat vote.
In messages from the consulate’s Twitter account, the consulate said in both Turkish and English: “In an impressive display of participatory democracy İstanbul residents went to their voting stations to cast ballots and make their voices heard. We wish @ekrem_imamoglu the best as he leads Europe’s biggest city.”
Republican People’s Party (CHP) mayoral candidate İmamoğlu garnered around 54 percent of the vote in İstanbul, while his rival, Justice and Development Party (AKP) mayoral candidate Binali Yıldırım, received around 45 percent.
İmamoğlu also won in the local elections held across Turkey on March 31 as the İstanbul mayoral candidate; however, his term as mayor lasted only 18 days as the Supreme Election Council annulled the results of the vote over an appeal filed by the AKP, citing irregularities in the election.
In the cancelled vote İmamoğlu had received 48.7 percent while Yıldırım won 48.6 percent of the vote. Some 10.5 million people are eligible to vote in İstanbul.