Iran’s President Hails Turkey Elections
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani congratulated Turkey on holding local elections successfully, which he described as a proof of democracy in the neighboring nation.
In a message to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday night, President Rouhani praised the “vibrant and successful” local and mayoral elections across Turkey as a clear sign of people’s role in deciding their own fate and the rule of democracy.
Congratulating the Turkish government and nation on holding the polls, the Iranian president also wished welfare for the friendly and brotherly neighbor.
Turkey held local and mayoral elections across the country on Sunday.
More than 57 million eligible voters could vote at some 200,000 ballot boxes to elect the mayors for 30 large metropolitan cities, 51 provincial capitals and 922 districts. They also voted to elect local assembly representatives as well as tens of thousands of neighborhood or village administrators.
President Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, took 44 percent of the votes in the elections after 99 percent of the more than 194,000 ballot boxes were counted, according to the official Anadolu Agency. The secular, main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party, or CHP had 30 percent.
The party of Erdogan has lost control of the capital, Ankara, while figures published by Anadolu suggest that CHP was also slightly ahead in the contest for mayor of Istanbul.
High Election Board Chairman Sadi Guven said on Monday that Republican People's Party's (CHP) candidate was leading in the mayoral race in Istanbul over the nominee of AK Party.
