Unusual scenes unfolded in the early hours of Sunday in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority provinces, as buses transported military-aged men in civilian attire to polling stations. Beritan Güneş, an MP from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, vocally opposed these developments in Savur (Stewr), Mardin (Mêrdîn), challenging the legitimacy of their presence.
🔴 DEM Party MP Beritan Güneş (@BeritanGns) challenges the presence of unfamiliar voters in Savur (Stewr), #Mardin (Mêrdîn): "You have never seen Savur in your life, yet you shamelessly come here to vote and leave half an hour later."#Elections2024
🔗 https://t.co/T3Yb4WqOoe pic.twitter.com/ssofRbXNL4
— MedyaNews (@medyanews_) March 31, 2024
These incidents come amid allegations by the DEM Party of an orchestrated attempt to influence the outcome of local elections through the deployment of individuals unfamiliar with the areas they were voting in. Güneş’s confrontation with the individuals, demanding their identification and questioning their connections to the area, underscores tensions surrounding electoral integrity in regions where the vote could swing on slender margins.
Güneş’s statements on the ground, “Who are you, and where did you come from? You have never seen Savur in your life, yet you shamelessly come here to vote and leave half an hour later,” encapsulate the core of the controversy. The presence of these voters, seen as an intrusion on local democratic processes, has sparked significant reaction from locals.
The background of these events includes a broader narrative of alleged voter manipulation, with the DEM Party accusing Turkey’s Defence Ministry of altering military personnel’s addresses to affect election results. Over 15,000 ‘ghost voters’ have been implicated in a complaint filed with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, highlighting concerns over the integrity of the electoral process.
