Elections | Erdogan defends Istanbul vote redo, critics see power grab

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted yesterday that rerunning the Istanbul mayoral vote won by the opposition will only strengthen democracy, while critics called the decision an “outrageous” move to eliminate dissent against his government.

Ruling in favor of Erdogan’s governing party, Turkey’s top electoral body on Monday annulled the results of the March 31 vote in Istanbul, which opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu narrowly won, and scheduled a re-run for June 23.

The loss of Istanbul — and the capital of Ankara — in Turkey’s local elections were sharp blows to Erdogan and his conservative, Islamic-based Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

AKP had challenged the results of the vote, claiming it was marred by irregularities. Critics accuse the AKP of clinging to power in the city of 15 million people that is Turkey’s cultural and commercial hub and of exerting heavy pressure on the country’s electoral body to cancel the outcome.

The controversial decision has increased concerns over democracy and the rule of law in Turkey, a NATO member that that is still formally a candidate to join the European Union and a key Western ally in the fight against terrorism and stemming of the flow of refugees to Europe.

“The will of the people has been trampled on,” said Meral Aksener, leader of a nationalist party in Turkey that had backed Imamoglu.

The move is raising questions about whether Erdogan, who has consolidated power throughout his 16 years in power and is increasingly accused of authoritarianism, would ever accept any electoral defeat or relinquish power.

The redo of the vote also threatens to further de-stabilize the Turkish economy, which has entered a recession.

The Turkish lira crashed spectacularly last summer over investor concerns about Erdogan’s policies, shaking the economy. It has been sliding again in recent weeks and yesterday it hit its lowest level since October, due to the prolonged political uncertainty.

“This outrageous decision highlights how Erdogan’s Turkey is drifting toward a dictatorship,” Guy Verhofstadt, a European Parliament lawmaker and the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, said on Twitter. “Under such leadership, accession talks are impossible.”

Europe’s top human rights and democracy watchdog expressed concerns about reports of pressure exerted by Erdogan’s government on the electoral body.

“We face the repeat elections in Istanbul with great concern and urge Turkish authorities to do their utmost to restore the safeguards of the electoral process,” said Anders Knape, the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.

Delivering a speech in Parliament, Erdogan reiterated that the vote was sullied by “irregularities we could not ignore.”

“We see this decision as an important step in strengthening our democracy, which will enable the removal of the shadow cast over the Istanbul election,” he said.

He rejected opposition accusations that his party was trying to win back a key election that it had lost.

But opposition newspaper Birgun, however, branded the decision a “coup” and argued that justice in Turkey had “been suspended.”

Imamoglu arrived in Ankara yesterday for emergency talks with senior members of the opposition Republican Peoples’ Party, or CHP.  Media reports had said the party was considering boycotting the repeated vote in Istanbul, but CHP signaled that Imamoglu would run again.

“We extend our hand to all our citizens,” the party said at the end of the meeting. “We wholeheartedly believe that this extended hand will be held strong on 23 June, that it will strengthen our democratic struggle and that we will achieve a greater victory than on March 31.” Suzan Fraser, Ankara, AP