* Photograph: Dilek Mermer / AA
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Faik Öztrak, the Spokesperson of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), made a statement for the press regarding the local elections at 11.30 a.m. today (April 1). Öztrak said, "What we have won at the ballot box... We cannot lose it at the table."
Referring to the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, which has been won by Mansur Yavaş, the candidate of the CHP and İYİ Party, Öztrak stated that there are rumors suggesting that the vehicles owned by the metropolitan municipality are granted to district municipalities.
Öztrak made the following remarks in his statement for the press:
"[State-run] Anadolu Agency has become an instrument of manipulation. 38 ballot boxes have not been entered in the registers. [Ekrem] İmamoğlu has won the victory [in İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality].
"Ekrem İmamoğlu has received 27 thousand 171 more votes [than People's Alliance's candidate Binali Yıldırım]. Everyone has to respect what has come out of the ballot box. No one has the right to create another uncertainty through the elections in İstanbul.
"Ankara Metropolitan Municipality is one of the municipalities that we have won with the biggest margin. We will not take the bread out of anyone's mouth at the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality. But, there are serious issues reported to us. The service vehicles owned by the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality have started to be granted to municipalities won by the AKP." (AÖ/SD)
