Turkey's last prime minister was on Saturday chosen as the ruling party's mayoral candidate for Istanbul in a bid to ensure the country's biggest city remains in its hands after 2019 elections.
Binali Yildirim, who served as prime minister between 2016 and 2018 under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had been the clear favourite for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) role.
He was the last premier of Turkey before the parliamentary system was officially replaced with an executive presidency with Erdogan at the helm in July.
AKP chairman Erdogan, a former mayor of Istanbul, introduced Yildirim as the candidate for the March 31 vote during a televised ceremony.
The president once reportedly told his party: "If we lose Istanbul, we lose Turkey."
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