Şırnak (Şirnex) MP Mehmet Zeki İrmez was seen addressing a queue of young men with military haircuts at a polling station, while the men attempted to hide their faces.
🔴 #LIVEBLOG | There have been increasing reports of the ruling #AKP's involvement in organising the transport of soldiers and police from other regions to vote in #Kurdish-majority areas. Residents of #Şırnak (Şirnex) react to transported voters.
⤵️ https://t.co/s3kkQZ0usG pic.twitter.com/4C61u6vtzn
— MedyaNews (@medyanews_) March 31, 2024
İrmez’s confrontation highlights concerns over the legitimacy of these voters, with accusations that their presence represents an assault on the democratic process.
“This is a usurpation of the people’s will. Transporting 8,000 individuals here to determine the outcome of our election is unacceptable,” İrmez stated. His critique focuses on the integrity of the election in Şırnak, where the inclusion of voters with no apparent ties to the community could significantly impact results.
Further amplifying the issue, İrmez posed a rhetorical question on the fairness of reversing the scenario, questioning if it would be deemed acceptable to transport a similar number of voters to another region to influence an election there. “This cannot be accepted. Whatever the people’s will gives, we are content with it, but we do not accept determining the will of the people with transported voters,” he explained, encapsulating a broader dissatisfaction with attempts to manipulate election outcomes through voter transportation.