http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-instanbul-mayoral-election-ekrem-omamoglu-recep-tayip-erdogan-akp-a8901931.html?
Turkish authorities on Monday ordered a redo of an election won by an opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's political party, snatching away a major victory from the country's opposition.
Under heavy pressure by Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) Turkey's High Election Commission (YSK), which is described as packed with the president's loyalists, canceled the results of 31 March Istanbul mayoral elections narrowly won by Ekrem Imamoglu, a rising star in the Turkish opposition.
The news was reported by Turkey's state-run Anatolia News Agency.
Mr Imamoglu was handed the mandate to govern last month, lifting the spirits of Erdogan's opponents, despite vague accusations of cheating and election fraud by the AKP and its loyalists.
Mr Imamoglu's victory marked the first time in 25 years that Istanbul, a city of 16 million, fell out of the hands of Mr Erdogan's political party. The AKP also lost control of the capital, Ankara, for the first time in 25 years but with a much larger margin.
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence
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