Istanbul mayoral candidates fail to sway voters during rare live debate

Source:Ahval News Date:17Jun2019

The highly-anticipated televised debate between the Istanbul mayoral candidate from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Binalı Yıldırım and opposition secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate on Sunday proved to be a lacklustre event with no breakthrough moments.

The live election debate, the first in Turkey since 2002, arrives days before the Istanbul mayoral revote set to take place on June 23. CHP’s İmamoğlu scored a narrow victory of13,000 votes over AKP’s Yıldırım in the city’s March 31 election, however, AKP successfully contested the result, claiming vote-rigging and new elections were ordered.