Ruling Justice and Development Party, headed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday appealed to the  Central Election Commission (CEC) with a request to hold new municipal elections in Istanbul, TASS reports citing NTV.

Meanwhile, on March 31, the Turkish leader promised that the next elections in the country would be held only in 2023. The next presidential and parliamentary elections should be held this year.

On 31 March, Turks elected mayors in municipalities, many more municipal council members in the cities and muhtars (village administrative officers) and members of elders’ councils in the villages.  For the first time since 2002, the AKP lost the mayoral elections in Ankara and Istanbul.

Appeals following the election of the mayor of Istanbul are still being considered by the CEC. Erdogan claims numerous violations during the voting, while the opposition indicates that even after a recount, the result will be in favor of its candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu.