Local elections in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority regions were marred by “undermining of democracy”, bussing in Turkish voters and members of the state security forces, and the persecution of journalists and political opposition figures, a fact-finding mission has found
Based on testimonies from 125 electoral observers, the report identifies “two gross and widespread violations”. Firstly, the observers documented “an excessive and intimidating police and military presence in almost all areas. In two regions (Van and Şirnak), repression against the population and the DEM party was also documented in the aftermath of the elections.”
Abdullah Zeydan of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party won the democratic vote in Van (Wan), but was initially denied the electoral certificate, igniting widespread appeals for justice and accountability in Van. Journalists faced widespread attacks, and scores of people were detained, in the course of demonstrations which ultimately saw Zeydan restored to office. “Almost 500 citizens were detained in various provinces as far away as Istanbul and Hakkari,” the report documents.
Of all 150 polling stations which they visited, “almost all had a police and military presence”, even though this is contrary to Turkish law. Despite requirements for security personnel to remain 50 meters away from polling stations, it was common to see the “clearly intimidating” presence of uniformed personnel at voting sites.
Secondly, the electoral observers also documented “a new strategy to influence the election results through targeted voter transfers of 46,901 state employees such as police officers and soldiers.” The observers documented what they describe as a “gross and deliberate attempt to manipulate the local elections against opposition parties”, saying:
“State employees such as police and military were… sent to the Kurdish regions to vote. In some cases, these people were registered in the regions over a period of 6 months. In other cases, the process was ad hoc. Masses of males between the ages of 20 and 30 were registered in government buildings such as police stations and spent the night in schools and universities especially cleared for this purpose in the days before the election.”
The observers described this as a deliberate attempt to alter the outcome of the elections, seen in many quarters as a blow to the governing coalition between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is right-wing, nationalist, authoritarian and known for its repression of Kurdish political expression and activity.
“The use of security forces to reduce the voting power of the local Kurdish population, other local minorities and especially women can be seen as strategic, as these voter transfers were concentrated in regions where a close election result between AKP, MHP or DEM party was expected, and the participation of thousands of soldiers could tilt the result,” the observers found.
The reported voter transfers of nearly 50,000 primarily young, male voters across the regions and cities of Şırnak, Kars, Uludere, Çukurca, Gercüş, Eğil, Şemdinli, Hazro, Eruh and Savur “were often registered by the hundreds at one address, and mainly in government and administrative buildings that are not actual residential addresses”, according to the electoral observers. One observer was quoted as saying: “the night before the election, the city was full of groups of men, some of whom were armed… the overall situation seemed tense and even alarming.”
This strategy reportedly accounted for up to 50 percent of the vote in some regions, while the observers were themselves prevented from accessing voter lists and checking on further potential instances of fraud. As such, they urge a re-assessment of the vote in these areas, and potentially holding new elections. The report further documents attempted fraud through both bribery and blackmail; discrimination and repressive measures in the run-up to the elections; reported instances of multiple voting; and pressure to document and photograph votes, violating the right to electoral privacy.
All this occurred during police violence and repression before, during and after the election, particularly in Van. The independent electoral delegation themselves faced repression, expulsion from polling stations, and attempts to restrict access.
