Turkey’s ruling party voices trust in top election body

By Nilay Kar Onum

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey’s ruling party spokesman said on Saturday that objections of political parties to election results are “quite normal”, voicing confidence over the capability of the top election authority, which will have the final say.

Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, Omer Celik of the Justice and Development (AK) Party said: “It is quite a normal situation. After all elections in Turkey, political parties object [to results] and the Supreme Election Council (YSK) decides on results.”

Celik criticized some groups trying to portray a situation which is seen as ordinary by many western democracies as "extraordinary".

“This is a very wrong approach,” he said.

Praising YSK's capacity to manage elections, Celik said: “We all trust the capabilities of Supreme Election Council on this. All the political parties should make themselves responsible to protect its reputation.”

On Wednesday, responding to a legal contest by the AK Party, the election body decided to re-examine some votes in seven districts of Istanbul.

According to unofficial results, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamoglu leads Istanbul with 48.79% of the votes, whereas Binali Yildirim of AK Party follows with 48.51% of the votes.

However, the AK Party has said a recount might change the results.

Millions of Turkish voters cast their votes nationwide last Sunday in the local elections to choose Turkey’s mayors, city council members, mukhtars (neighborhood officials), and members of elder councils for the next five years.

According to unofficial results, the AK Party is leading in 15 metropolitan municipalities (larger cities) and 24 smaller cities.