The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in Turkey is now confirmed to be leading in 35 cities, while the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has garnered only 24 cities with 99.9% of the ballots counted, per Supreme Election Council chief Ahmet Yener.

Yener told reporters, "According to the results that are not final, after processing 99.9% of ballots, candidates from the Republican People's Party won in 35 cities, from the Justice and Development Party in 24."

This comes hours after the opposition's mayor of Ankara, Mansur Yavas, was announced to have received over 60% of the votes in the ongoing local elections, as confirmed by Turkish news media.

Data shows that the CHP is ahead of the AKP in the local elections for the first time in 20 years.

Opposition wins Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir

As 99.81% of the polling stations' votes have been processed, Yavas received 60.35% of the votes, and his AKP opponent, Turgut Altinok, garnered 31.69%.

This shows that the opposition mayors of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir maintained their posts. 

Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, addressing supporters at his party's headquarters in Ankara, acknowledged a "turning point" for his party and promised to respect the results.

With 96% of ballot boxes opened, Istanbul's CHP mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said he had led the local vote against Erdogan's candidate by more than one million votes. "We have won the election," he declared.

The CHP was also ahead in Izmir, Turkey's third largest city, and Antalya where party supporters flooded onto the streets. Results even indicated that some AKP stronghold towns were at risk of being won over by the CHP.

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"Voters have chosen to change the face of Turkey," said CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel as the results emerged. "They want to open the door to a new political climate in our country."

Erdogan acknowledged the electoral loss in a speech to supporters at the headquarters of his party.

"Unfortunately, we have not obtained the results that we wanted," he said.

"We will of course respect the decision of the nation. We will avoid being stubborn, acting against the national will and questioning the power of the nation," he added.