Turkey election rerun angers victorious opposition

Turkey’s electoral body has been condemned for ordering Istanbul’s local elections to be re-held after an opposition victory in March.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party had claimed there were “irregularities and corruption” behind the opposition CHP’s slim win.

But CHP’s Ekrem Imamoglu, who was confirmed as Istanbul’s mayor in April, called the decision “treacherous”.

The vote, which will be held on 23 June, has sparked protests in the city.

Hundreds of residents have gathered in several districts of Istanbul, banging pots and pans and shouting anti-government slogans.

The European Parliament has also said the decision to re-run the election would end the credibility of democratic elections in Turkey.

‘Plain dictatorship’

An AKP representative on the electoral board, Recep Ozel, said the rerun was because some electoral officials were not civil servants and some result papers had not been signed.

But CHP deputy chair Onursal Adiguzel said the rerun showed it was “illegal to win against the AK Party”. Read more

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