MESOP ELECTION’S LIVE: Tight race in key battlegrounds, initial results in local elections say

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Here are live updates from the polls throughout Turkey: 20:20 – AKP has claimed victory in Istanbul, in a statement by provincial chair Aziz Babuşçu.

20:15 – After his rival’s declaration of victory, Ankara’s incumbent mayor Melih Gökçek, seeking a fifth term in power, has slammed “manipulations,” claiming to have a 7.5 percent lead over the CHP. “The AKP is set for a historic victory,” Gökçek said.

22:11 – More anti-riot vehicles and water cannons are deployed at Taksim Square, as Doğan news agency footage shows:

21:05 – The AKP’s candidates for Istanbul and Ankara are in front with 45.27 percent and 44.48 percent respectively, according to Cihan News Agency’s latest figures. They both lead by just over 1 percent after around 18 percent of votes have been counted so far in the two cities. The CHP’s Ankara candidate, Mansur Yavaş, has already declared victory in Ankara in a press conference.

20:57 – Turkey appears set for its first-ever mayor to win under the banner of the Turkish Communist Party (TKP). Fatih Mehmet Maçoğlu is poised to win the district of Ovacık in the eastern province of Tunceli (Dersim) for the TKP. He has 3 percent lead over the incumbent mayor and Peace and Democracy Party’s (BDP) Mustafa Sarıgül.

20:45 – The main opposition CHP’s Istanbul chair, Oğuzhan Salıcı, has complained about unusual power blackouts in districts like Bakırköy while the votes were still being counted. Salıcı claimed that the CHP’s mayoral candidate Mustafa Sarıgül won the election with 39.02 percent of the vote, ahead of the AKP’s candidate, Kadir Topbaş, at 37.02 percent. Salıcı says that out of the 12,500 ballot boxes counted so far in Istanbul, the CHP is leading with 1,513,517 votes, while the AKP follows closely with 1,462,795 votes.

20:37 – Mansur Yavaş, CHP’s mayoral candidate for Ankara, has declared victory over the incumbent mayor Melih Gökçek from the ruling AKP, claiming to have won “almost 50 percent” of the votes.

20:10 – Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Mustafa Sarıgül leads the race in Istanbul, while Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate Melih Gökçek is ahead in Ankara, after 10 percent of the votes have been counted. While the CHP’s vote rate in Istanbul is 45.01 percent, the AKP’s candidate Kadir Topbaş follows with 44,62 percent. Gökçek leads the race with 45.77 percent of the counted votes in Ankara, followed by the CHP’s candidate with 42.76 percent. In İzmir, with 12 percent of the votes counted, the CHP’s candidate and incumbent mayor Aziz Kocaoğlu is ahead with 52.86 percent of the counted votes, while former Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım from the AKP trails with 34.41 percent.

19:57 – The figures for initial results given by the semi-official Anadolu Agency and the private Cihan News Agency differ wildly. Anadolu reports that AKP candidate Kadir Topbaş leads in Istanbul with 50.14 percent, as 16.27 percent of votes are counted. According to Cihan, however, CHP candidate Mustafa Sarıgül leads in Istanbul with 45.53 percent, as 7.81 percent of votes are counted.