Turkish opposition leader becomes Istanbul mayor after controversial elections

Turkey's main opposition party candidate Ekrem Imamoglu was declared mayor of Istanbul on Wednesday after recounts of the March 31 local elections were completed, state-owned Anadolu Agency said, citing an opposition lawmaker.

Imamoglu was given the formal mandate despite a pending appeal from President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party for the Istanbul election to be annulled and re-run, which the country's top electoral body has yet to rule on.