Turkey Opposition Claims Key Local Polls Were Rigged
Turkey's secular opposition on Tuesday rejected the results of Ankara and Istanbul mayoral elections claimed as victories by the Islamic-rooted party of Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, citing "irregularities".
More than 1,000 people demonstrated outside the elections authority in the capital Ankara, where the incumbent mayor of Erdogan's ruling party has declared victory with a wafer-thin margin of about one percent.
"Thief Tayyip!" the protesters chanted, while others yelled, "Ankara, don't sleep. Stand up for your vote!"
Turkey's two biggest cities were the top prizes in Sunday's elections, in which Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) declared sweeping wins despite graft claims and earlier mass street protests.
The municipal polls were seen as a referendum on the 11-year-rule of Erdogan, who is popular for driving strong economic growth but has been accused of an increasingly authoritarian ruling style.
The race was symbolic in Ankara, the inland capital built by the secular founding father of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who established the Republican People's Party (CHP), now the main opposition party.
In the tight Ankara race, Melih Gokcek, the AKP mayor for 20 years, scored 44.79 percent against 43.77 percent for CHP candidate Mansur Yavas, according to the provisional results.
That amounts to a margin of 32,000 votes in the city of about five million people.
Claims of election fraud have circulated on social media, including a photo which purportedly shows ballots in a garbage heap, and there have been complaints over power blackouts in some areas during the evening vote-count.
"We have evidence of irregularities," CHP lawmaker Aykan Erdemir claimed to AFP. "More than 1,000 volunteers have been working for over 48 hours to check data at party headquarters."
Yavas wrote on Twitter that a recount "will reveal the truth" -- the message itself defying an official ban on the site, which has been used to leak corruption claims against Erdogan's inner circle.
But Yavas also urged his Twitter followers to show "restraint" against "any kind of provocation".
Demonstrators meanwhile yelled: "We are the soldiers of Ataturk", using a common popular CHP slogan. Others chanted: "Thief Melih!"
One of the protesters, Tulay Ozturk, told AFP: "I believe the elections are marred by wrongdoing. That's why I am here. I want fair elections."
Another, named Ayhan Suleyman, said: "Thieves stole our votes".
Supreme Electoral Board president Sadi Guven told reporters: "This is a legal process. We will wait and see. Citizens and political parties should remain calm."
Energy Minister Taner Yildiz blamed other power outages in Turkey on Sunday on weather conditions and said: "Those who lost the elections should not use power cuts as an excuse for their defeat".
In Ankara, where in some areas ballots were counted by candle-light, the minister blamed a cat that had slipped into a power transmission unit and presumably was electrocuted when it caused a short circuit.
"I am not joking, friends," he said. "A cat walked into a transmission unit. That's why there was a power cut. It's not the first time this has happened."
The CHP also planned to contest the outcome in the megacity of Istanbul, its candidate Mustafa Sarigul said, although the AKP's provisional lead there was far greater at 48 to 41 percent.
"All the votes must be recounted for the residents of Istanbul to accept the results without any doubt," tweeted Sarigul, who had run against AKP incumbent Kadir Topbas.
Unless irregularities are addressed and all districts recounted, "this election, regardless of its outcome, will be etched in our history of democracy as contentious", he added.
Not to be outdone, the ruling AKP contested an election win in southern Adana province, claimed by Nationalist Movement Party candidate Huseyin Sozlu with a lead of 33.5 percent against the AKP's 31.8 percent.
Source: Agence France Presse
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