Turkey’s election board begins evaluating Istanbul rerun appeal

ANKARA — Turkey’s High Election Board started evaluating on Monday an appeal by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party to annul and rerun elections in Istanbul that saw the opposition win control of the country’s largest city, local TV broadcasters said. 

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) won in the capital Ankara and Istanbul for the first time in 25 years in the March 31 local elections, in a major setback for Erdogan, who served as Istanbul’s mayor in the 1990s.

Erdogan’s ruling AKP and its nationalist MHP allies have since called for the vote in Istanbul to be rerun, citing what they say are irregularities that affected the outcome. The parties have also filed appeals to annul results in two Istanbul districts, Buyukcekmece and Maltepe, over the same claims.

While those appeals have been pending for weeks, the High Election Board ordered partial and full recounts across Istanbul. Istanbul’s new CHP mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, took office last month as the recounts were completed.

In its interim rulings, the election board ordered district electoral officials to inspect their respective polling station officials.

Prosecutors also launched probes into alleged irregularities, which state-owned Anadolu news agency said resulted in 43 officials being linked to the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for a 2016 coup attempt.

Separately, broadcaster NTV said the election board rejected a second appeal by the AKP to bar voters dismissed through government decrees after the coup attempt.

‘Legal murder’

While it was unclear when the election board may rule on the annulment appeal, it has until Wednesday. The AKP’s representative on the election board, Recep Ozel, said the party hoped for a decision on Monday.

CHP spokesman Faik Oztrak said Turkey had reached a critical juncture. “No matter what the ruling party does, no matter how much they torture the ballots, if there is justice in this country, if there are laws in this country, the results won’t change,” Oztrak said.

“This decision is also a matter of survival for our democracy, it is a do-or-die issue.”

CHP Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu has accused Erdogan and the MHP of trying to put political pressure on the election board to order a rerun. Erdogan has dismissed the accusations, saying his party was only exercising its legal rights.

The potential election rerun in Istanbul was initially scheduled for June 2, but the election board may choose a later date if it rules that way.