UPDATE - Turkey urges US to respect Istanbul revote decision

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS BY FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOX

By Tugcenur Yılmaz

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Thursday called on the U.S. to respect the Supreme Election Council’s (YSK) decision for election rerun in Istanbul.

“Everyone should respect this decision taken by the Supreme Election Council,” said Hami Aksoy, spokesman for the Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, in response to a question regarding the statements made by Morgan Ortagus, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of State, and the members of U.S. Congress about the do-over of metropolitan municipality election in Istanbul.

Aksoy stressed that YSK's authority to administer and supervise elections is enshrined in Turkish constitution and its members are elected out of the judges of the high courts.

“It should be kept in mind that similar processes took place in the U.S. and other countries and were resolved in accordance with democratic principles,” he said in a written statement.

Aksoy also said that “the reason for the decision to rerun the municipal elections in Istanbul is because certain unlawful elements in March 31 local elections were identified, and it is not related to the election results”.

“Accurate reflection of the will of Turkish people in the election results is a requirement of our national laws and international commitments. It will be Turkey’s priority, as it has been in the past elections, to fulfill this requirement in the 23 June elections,” Aksoy said.

Underlining that free and democratic elections are an indispensable part of Turkey’s state tradition, the statement praised the high turnout in every election in Turkey.

“The high turnout demonstrates Turkish people’s commitment to democracy and their trust in the electoral system,” it added.

On Monday, the YSK accepted the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's objection to the local election results in Istanbul and announced a do-over election will be held on June 23.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz