Erdogan's party member says rival leader ahead by 25,000 votes in local polls

The Istanbul mayoral candidate for President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party (AKP) said on Monday that his main opposition rival held a lead of around 25,000 votes in Sunday's local elections, but added that vote counts continued. Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, AKP candidate and former prime minister Binali Yildirim said there more than 300,000 invalid votes in Istanbul, and added that such a tight race in the country's largest city had been unexpected.

Both Yildirim and the main opposition had declared victory in Istanbul. On Monday, Yildirim said developments in the vote count after his declaration were "news to us as well."