Erdoğan’s AKP seeks to overturn vote in Istanbul despite initial rejection

Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) is seeking to overturn the results of Sunday’s local election for a district of Istanbul, local media reported.

Crimes have been committed before the vote took place in the district of Büyükçekmece on Sunday, including improper registration of voters, which affect more than 20,000 votes, said Ali Ihsan Yavuz, the AKP’s deputy chief. Police have detained an official responsible for registering local residents in connection with “this great crime”, he said.

The local office of the Higher Election Board (YSK) has thrown out an initial request, but there are other means to overturn the vote, including applying to the headquarters of the YSK, Yavuz said. The party has yet to decide what to do, he said.

Opposition mayoral candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu was ahead by almost 28,000 votes before a recount that began this week following an AKP appeal. That margin has been reduced by one-third from the lead initially reported by the YSK after Sunday’s results.

It was not immediately clear how the cancellation of the election in Büyükçekmece would affect İmamoğlu’s position as the leading candidate, or whether the election for Istanbul as a whole would have to be re-run as a consequence.