Candidate: Islamist-Rooted Party and Supporters Partied

candidate: Opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu's win Sunday in a repeat vote for mayor broke the lock the president's Islamist-rooted party long held on Istanbul's top public office, according to CTV. On Monday, Turks speculated whether Erdogan's opponents finally have the ability to challenge his rule. But the party's rare defeat in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, was a political and personal setback for the country's leader. Imamoglu's supporters partied long into the night after he trounced Erdogan's hand-picked candidate, a former prime minister, 54% to 45% in a rerun of the city's March 31 mayoral election. The streets of Istanbul, where Erdogan's rise in Turkish politics started with his own election as mayor 25 years ago, became an impromptu caravan of cars honking horns with overjoyed passengers leaning out the windows as they cheered and waved Turkish flags. The Islamic-leaning ruling party challenged the first vote over alleged irregularities, and Turkey's electoral board nullified the results. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.