An opposition MP has accused members of Turkey’s ruling party of deliberately burning ballots to nullify the election outcome in a Kurdish-majority district following the 31 March elections.
Mahmut Tanal, MP for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) from Riha, has voiced strong criticism over the decision to redo elections in Hilvan (Curnê Reş), following the victory of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party). The redo was prompted by an appeal from the AKP, citing the burning of some ballot boxes and electoral records as the reason.
🗳️Amid allegations of ballot tampering in Hilvan (Curnê Reş), Urfa (Riha) in southeastern Turkey, calls grow for a thorough investigation into the events leading to the election's cancellation (https://t.co/BcvF9NOmTC).#Electionfrauds | #Elections2024 | #Turkey pic.twitter.com/NUu8o5O0eR
— MedyaNews (@medyanews_) April 5, 2024
Tanal, through a statement on social media, asserted that the incident was clearly orchestrated to manufacture evidence for cancelling the election. “This act is organised, planned, and targeted, constituting a clear criminal offence,” he stated, implicating that the actions served the interests of those looking to benefit from the cancellation.
Highlighting the AKP’s loss to the DEM Party in the Hilvan Mayoral election, Tanal underscored the obvious beneficiary of the act of burning election ballots and votes. He called for an immediate, effective, and comprehensive investigation into the individuals who disrupted the electoral process, including assaulting police officers, to ensure the integrity of democratic processes.
The controversy stems from events following the 31 March local elections, where the DEM Party secured 33.2 percent of the votes, ahead of the AKP’s 30.7 percent. A group including relatives of the incumbent mayor and AKP candidate, as well as municipal employees, was reported to have stormed the District Youth Centre, burning ballots from two polling stations. The District Election Board cited these actions as grounds for redoing the elections, a decision upheld despite the DEM Party’s appeal, which is now set to be taken to the Supreme Election Board (YSK).
Previously, elected Van (Wan) Mayor Abdullah Zeydan from the DEM Party was deprived of his mandate through a contested legal challenge by Turkey’s ruling party, reflecting a broader strategy to overturn opposition victories in Kurdish-majority areas. The legal objection, based on the specifics of Zeydan’s past conviction, was initially upheld by the provincial election board, then reversed by the YSK after two days of protests.
