On Sunday’s local elections in Turkey, pro-Kurdish DEM Party candidate Abdullah Zeydan won mayorship in the eastern province of Van with 55.48% of the vote, besting second-place Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate Abdulahat Arvas, who finished with 27.15%.
Zeydan’s victory, however, was invalidated when it emerged that on March 29, two days before the election was held, an objection was been filed by Ministry of Justice officials depriving Zeydan of his right to seek public office on the basis of allegation related to ‘organizational propaganda’ charges from the previous year. The invalidation of Zeydan’s victory occurred despite the fact that his candidacy had been approved by Turkey’s Supreme Election Council (YSK) following an investigation prior to the campaign period.
Election mandate awarded to second-place candidate
On Tuesday (April 2), news broke that the YSK would be awarding the election mandate to AKP candidate Arvas due to the invalidation of Zeydan’s victory. The decision triggered backlash across Turkey. In addition to the DEM Party’s condemnation of Zeydan’s disqualification, opposition politicians including recently re-elected Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu issued statements condemning the move as a usurpation of the voters’ will.
Protests then spread across Van throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, with videos and photos showing large groups of protestors clashing with large groups of police. Protesters hurling stones and shouting towards police vehicles were met with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Decision reversed
In a surprise move midday Wednesday (April 3), the YSK reversed its decision in a 7-4 vote following an objection filed by DEM Party officials. As a result of the reversal, Zeydan will be given the election mandate certificate and be allowed to take office as mayor of Van province.
‘Kayyum’ appointees in the southeast
Van, a major city near Turkey’s eastern border, is home to a majority Kurdish population. Van was one of many cities won by the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), DEM’s predecessor, in 2019’s local election. Following her election victory in the city in March 2019, Van mayor Bedia Özgökçe Ertan was deposed and replaced by an AKP appointee in August 2019 based on alleged terrorism charges.
Over the past five years, some 65 HDP politicians elected in 2019 throughout heavily Kurdish southeastern Anatolia have been deposed and replaced by AKP appointees in what has become known as the ‘trustee’ (kayyum) system. In the lead-up to Sunday’s local elections, many wondered whether DEM Party politicians elected in southeastern provinces would face a similar fate as their HDP counterparts.
Medyascope'un günlük e-bülteni
Andaç'a abone olun
Editörlerimizin derlediği öngörüler, analizler, Türkiye’yi ve dünyayı şekillendiren haberler, Medyascope’un e-bülteni Andaç‘la her gün mail kutunuzda.
The news of Zeylan’s disqualification on Tuesday stoked fears that a similar kayyum system was again being instituted.
In addition to the potential reintroduction of AKP appointees, large bus-loads of AKP-assigned police and security personal appeared at polling stations across southeastern Anatolia throughout the day Sunday, leading many local residents to fear that Turkey’s ruling party was trying to tip to scales in their favor. Most of these police and security personnel, referred to as ‘transported voters’ (taşımalı seçmen) had only recently been registered in the southeastern provinces, having been shipped in from other parts of Turkey.
DEM nevertheless managed to secure victories in the majority of southeastern provinces, although analyses of voter numbers on election day showed that the large groups of ‘transported voters’ had indeed been successful in chipping into the DEM Party’s vote share, particularly in Şırnak, where AKP candidate Mehmet Yarka edged out DEM candidate Turan Saltan to secure control over the province.
HSK to pursue legal action against court that invalidated Zeylan’s victory
Today (April 4), Deutsche Welle reported that the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), the disciplinary arm of the Justice Ministry, would launch an investigation into the Diyarbakır court that invalidated Zeylan’s election victory.
Written by Leo Kendrick
