Deposed Istanbul mayor blasts 'lies' used to annul poll

ISTANBUL, May 22 (AFP): Istanbul's deposed mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said Wednesday that no one believed the "lies" used to overturn his recent election and called on voters to "correct this great shame" in next month's re-run.

"Nobody believes their claims," Imamoglu said at a meeting in Istanbul to launch his re-election campaign.

He accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party of peddling "lies" and "excuses" to overturn his narrow victory in the mayoral election in March.

"When I look at their facial expressions, I see that they themselves do not believe them either," Imamoglu said.

The election board earlier this month accepted the ruling party's allegations of "irregularities" and called a re-run of the vote for June 23.

Imamoglu's victory for the opposition of the Republican People's Party (CHP) was the first time Erdogan's Islamic-conservative party and its predecessors had lost control of the metropolis in 25 years.

Analysts say the government is reluctant to cede control of Turkey's biggest city, which provides its mayor with significant resources for patronage as well as a high-profile platform.

"We will show the whole of Turkey on June 23 that there is no way out other than democracy and the ballot box," Imamoglu said.

"Come and let's correct this great shame and unfairness all together."