Ankara mayor Gökçek begins new term, endorses Erdoğan 'presidency'

ANKARA

Melih Gökçek is set to start his fifth term at the head of the Ankara Municipality.

Melih Gökçek from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has begun his fifth term as the mayor of Ankara on April 5.The Ankara Election Board had rejected the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) appeal for the recount of votes in Ankara on April 4, after the main opposition party complained about election fraud in numerous ballot boxes throughout the capital.Gökçek formally received the official minutes from the courthouse in Ankara and gave a short speech to a group of AKP supporters who cheered in front of the building."We won 20 mayor mayoralty out of 25 in Ankara. And 99 members of the the 140-seat municipal assembly are now from our party. This is a record in the history of Ankara," he said.Arguing that his party triumphed against international powers, too, Gökçek thanked Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his support."Dear Prime Minister, godspeed! Let God be your friend and helper. We will follow you as what you see here today. God willing, we will celebrate your presidency in the same way in four months," Gökçek said.