The exact results of the elections in Istanbul have not yet been determined, said Binali Yıldırım, former speaker of the Turkish parliament and candidate of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Axar.az reports citing Turkish media.

He noted that the municipal elections are important for Turkey regardless of their outcome, and are held democratically.

It was reported today that the candidate of the opposition Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) Ekrem Imamoglu is ahead of the candidate of the AKP Binali Yıldırım on preliminary results of the municipal elections in Istanbul.

According to the information, Imamoglu gained 4,159 million votes, while Yildirim gained 4,131 million votes in Istanbul.

In general, the union between the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) and the Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi) gained 51.67 percent of the vote in the municipal elections in Turkey.

Following the elections, Mansur Yavas, candidate from the Republican People’s Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi), became the mayor of Ankara.

Thirteen political parties took part in the municipal elections on March 31. These included the Felicity Party (SP), the Independent Turkey Party (Bağımsız Türkiye Partisi), the Communist Party of Turkey (Türkiye Komünist Partisi), the Patriotic Party (Vatan Partisi), the Great Unity Party (Büyük Birlik Partisi), Free Cause Party (Hür Dava Partisi), Republican People’s Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi), Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi), Democratic Party (Demokrat Parti), Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi), Good Party (İYİ Parti), Peoples’ Democratic Party (Halkların Demokratik Partisi) and Democratic Left Party (Demokratik Sol Parti).

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan nominated the candidacy of ex-Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci for the post of the head of the Izmir municipality, as well as the candidacy of Binali Yildirim for the post of the head of the Istanbul municipality.

Municipal elections are held every 5 years in Turkey.