A recount is currently underway in Istanbul’s Gaziosmanpaşa and Beykoz districts, where the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) won Sunday’s local elections by a thin margin. In another close race in Kayseri’s Pınarbaşı district, CHP’s victory was overturned by Turkey’s Supreme Election Council (YSK), with a rerun election scheduled for June 2.
Istanbul – Gaziosmanpaşa
In Gaziosmanpaşa’s close race, CHP candidate Hakan Bahçetepe defeated incumbent Hasan Tahsin Usta, a member of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), by a razor thin margin of 970 votes.
The decision to recount votes in the district was made following an objection filed by the AKP. The recount, which began yesterday (April 4), is ongoing. Unrest was reported outside the building where the recount is taking place, and the area remains under heavy police presence.
CHP’s victory in Gaziosmanpaşa, if upheld, would represent the party’s first in the district in approximately 40 years. The district is one of many in Turkey’s largest city often referred to as the ‘AKP’s castle’ for its loyal support of the ruling party.
The ruckus outside the polling station included AKP supporters chanting ‘Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’, while CHP supporters played recently re-elected İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s campaign music on blast. Police deployed in the area attempted to separate the two groups and blocked press access to the building where the recount is ongoing.
CHP officials have alleged inconsistencies in the YSK’s issuing of recount decisions. In Arnavutköy and Ümraniye districts, where local CHP candidates lost to AKP candidates by similar margins as the AKP lost in Gaziosmanpaşa, no recount has been awarded despite objections filed by the party.
Istanbul – Beykoz
On Istanbul’s Asian side, an initial decision made by the YSK to recount ballots in the Beykoz district was overturned following an appeal filed by the CHP
CHP candidate Alaattin Köseler won Sunday’s contest by a narrow margin of 400 votes. Köseler’s victory in Beykoz was cemented with the YSK’s decision not to proceed with the planned recount.
An MHP Member of Parliament is directing insults towards a judge.
The election we won in Kayseri Pınarbaşı after all these years is being invalidated.
Kayseri – Pınarbaşı
In the central Anatolian city of Kayseri’s Pınarbaşı district, the CHP’s local candidate Deniz Yağan edged out incumbent Menduh Uzunluoğlu by less than 400 votes in Sunday’s election. The district had last been won by the CHP some 35 years ago.
Uzunluoğlu is a member of the ultranationalist National Action Party (MHP), a coalition member of President Erdoğan’s AKP.
Following an objection filed by local MHP officials, a decision was made to nullify Sunday’s results. Pınarbaşı residents will return to the polls in an election rerun scheduled for June 2.
In a statement released following the decision, CHP’s Kayseri branch condemned the planned rerun as unjust and vowed to pursue further action.
Written/translated by Leo Kendrick for Medyascope
