Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) spokesperson Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki, who also acts as part of Turkey’s Election Monitoring Coordination Centre and is a representative of the Supreme Electoral Board (YSK), addressed concerns over the vote counting process in the country’s 14 May elections, during a press conference at the HDP headquarters in Ankara on Tuesday.
Tiryaki announced that in Hakkari (Colemêrg), the Green Left had won “all three parliamentary seats, even after including votes from abroad”. The HDP spokesperson accused candidates from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of manipulating election results, through collaboration with Hakkari’s governor and local administrative officials, in an attempt to steal one of the Green Left’s three won seats.
The HDP seek to ensure that a democratic process is maintained during Turkey’s pivotal elections and are particularly invested in assuring the security of the Green Left count because the pro-Kurdish party ran under Green Left Party lists in Sunday’s elections.
“You are not a political representative of the AKP,” said Tiryaki, addressing the Hakkari governor accused of meeting with the AKP candidate to arrange a manipulation of results.
At polls in Erzurum (Erzirom), according to data provided by the Political Party Portal (SİPPORT) system backed by unofficial figures, HDP’s deputy group leader Meral Danış Beştaş was elected as MP. “We are awaiting Beştaş to receive her official certificate,” said Tiryaki.
“However, we have heard of attempts to change the election results in Erzurum, involving the cooperation of the MHP and, unfortunately, one of the partners of the Nation Alliance. I sincerely hope this information is not true, and I hope the partners of the Nation Alliance are not part of this conspiracy,” continued the HDP official.
The opposition Nation Alliance is led by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and includes the centre-right nationalist Good Party, a split from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
Tiryaki went on to demonstrate discrepancies between data on the ballot box result sheets and information recorded in the Political Party Portal (SİPPORT) system, presenting a detailed list of ballot boxes. He highlighted instances in which votes for the Green Left had been incorrectly attributed to the MHP.
“We have evidence that many ballot box results have been incorrectly entered into the SİPPORT system,” said Tiryaki, adding, “Since the evening hours of 14 May, our colleagues have been working on this data. We have been comparing the inconsistencies between the counting and tabulation sheets, the ballot box result sheets, and the data entered into the SİPPORT system. We have been making objections and requesting corrections, and a significant number of our objections have been rectified.”
“If we discover that any of the MPs we have won have been taken away from us in these ways, we will continue to object and correct them. We are open to objections based on data, but we will resist objections made by the governor, the interior and justice ministries, and any attempts to steal the votes and seats using citizens’ personal data held by these ministries, until the end,” he said, emphasising a determination to continue placing objections and to rectify any attempts to revoke seats won by the Green Left.
