On Monday, Turkish election officials ordered a re-run of elections in Istanbul where president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party suffered a defeat. The repeat vote will be held on June, 23.
On March 31, Ekrem İmamoğlu, a representative of the Republican People’s Party, won by a slender majority at the mayoral elections in Istanbul. The presidential Justice and Development party challenged the election results stating that corrupt practices and fraud took place during the voting.
Opposition leader Anursal Adiguzel condemned the decision by Turkey’s election commission. According to him, re-running the elections is indicative of the fact that now it is simply forbidden to get a victory over the ruling party in Turkey.
In March, the opposition won the local elections in Ankara, Izmir and Istanbul. It was the first municipal vote after conducting a constitutional reform that expanded presidential powers.
International human rights organizations accused Erdogan of authoritarianism and human rights violations.
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