Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday welcomed an order to re-run the recent Istanbul election, a move the opposition has branded an attack on democracy.

His ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost the mayorship of Turkey's biggest city by a narrow margin and has refused to accept defeat.

"We sincerely believe there was organised corruption and irregularities," Erdogan told party members in parliament on Tuesday, saying the re-run was the "best step" for the country.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has condemned Monday's decision by the top election body to re-run the vote as "neither democratic nor legitimate".

Its candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu, who has been stripped of the mayorship after winning the March 31 election, was meeting coalition partners on Tuesday to discuss their strategy.

The loss of Istanbul, the country's economic hub, had been a shocking defeat for Erdogan's ruling party.

The AKP and its predecessors have ruled the city for 25 years, and it was especially sensitive for Erdogan, who grew up in the metropolis and rose to power after himself serving as Istanbul mayor.

Imamoglu, a softly-spoken former district mayor, gave a rousing speech to thousands of supporters in Istanbul late Monday, vowing they would emerge even stronger after the re-run on June 23.

"Maybe you are upset but never lose your hope," he said, while thousands more took to the streets of the chic Kadikoy district to protest against the election board.

"This is the collapse of the declining democracy in Turkey. The coming process is condemned to be even worse," said 60-year-old shopkeeper Ali Yamac in central Istanbul.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Tuesday that the decision to annul the election was "not transparent and incomprehensible to us".

The European Union has called for the election body to produce its reasons "without delay".

"Ensuring a free, fair and transparent election process is essential to any democracy and is at the heart of the European Union's relations with Turkey," EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement on Monday.

The loss of the mayorship in Istanbul, and a more resounding defeat in the capital Ankara, was a rare setback for Erdogan and his party, reflecting widespread concerns over the deteriorating economy.

The AKP still won the most seats nationwide, but has been damaged by Turkey's first recession in a decade, as well as record-high inflation and a currency that has lost more than 12 percent of its value against the dollar this year alone.

Erdogan's critics say he has eroded rights by cracking down on dissent at home but for his supporters he maintains the image of a strong leader who speaks up for Turkey in the international arena.

The defeated mayoral candidate, former prime minister Binali Yildirim, a close Erdogan ally, said he hoped the re-run would "be beneficial for our city".

The US-based think tank the Soufan Center said the YSK decision marked "serious concerns" for the future of democracy in Turkey.

"Given restrictions on freedom of speech and Turkey's increasingly less independent judiciary, the recent election meddling is a clear signal to the Turkish people, and the world, that Erdogan is willing to pursue absolute power at any cost." </s> ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted Tuesday 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 on Tuesday 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 on Tuesday, 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 on Tuesday 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.” </s> ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's top election authority voided the Istanbul mayoral election won by an opposition candidate and ordered a do-over, ruling Monday in favor of a request by the president's party to throw out the vote it narrowly lost.

 

 Opposition leaders said the Supreme Electoral Board's decision to invalidate the results from Istanbul's election raises concerns about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's grip on power and Turkish democracy in general.

 

 A top aide for Erdogan told The Associated Press that the voiding of the mayoral election in Turkey's biggest city amounts to "a victory for Turkish democracy" by ensuring the results reflect the voters' choice.

 

 Ekrem Imamoglu of the opposition Republican People's Party placed first by a slim margin in the March 31 mayoral election, defeating the ruling party candidate, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. Erdogan's conservative and Islamic-based Justice and Development Party then charged that a series of election irregularities made the results illegitimate.

 

 Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said the Supreme Electoral Board revoked Imamoglu's mandate and called a new election for June 23. As grounds to annul the March 31 results, the board said that some ballot station heads were not civil servants as required by law, the news agency said.

 

 Yildirim, the loser in the election, said he hoped the decision would lead to "beneficial and beautiful results for Istanbul."

 

 In a statement to the AP, presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun said: "Having held free and fair elections for nearly seven decades, Turkey will complete this process in a transparent, lawful and orderly manner."

 

 Leaders of the Imamoglu's main opposition party held an emergency meeting in the capital of Ankara late Monday.

 

 Addressing thousands of his supporters in Istanbul, Imamoglu accused the electoral board of bowing to pressure and threats from Erdogan's party. He vowed to use "democracy" to win back the "rights" that he said were taken away by force. The crowd called for the electoral board members to resign and accused Erdogan of stealing the vote.

 

 Kati Piri, the European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, said on Twitter: "This ends the credibility of democratic transition of power through elections in Turkey."

 

 Police set up barricades around the electoral board's headquarters in Turkey's capital, but there were no immediate signs of major demonstrations. Protesters banged pots and pans in several Istanbul neighborhoods, the opposition Birgun newspaper reported.

 

 Howard Eissenstat, a Turkey expert at the nonprofit Project for Middle East Democracy and a Middle East history scholar at St. Lawrence University in New York, said Monday's ruling "removes the last fig leaf of competitive elections" hiding the erosion of democracy in Turkey.

 

 "Turkey wasn't democratic yesterday and it's not democratic today," Eissenstat said.

 

 He noted that Erdogan's party previously invalidated election results in Turkey's mostly Kurdish-populated regions after a pro-Kurdish party won and replaced elected mayors with government appointees.

 

 "Erdogan cannot afford to lose in the second round. It would a disastrous display of weakness," Eissenstat said.

 

 The local elections held across Turkey on March 31 produced setbacks for the president. His party lost city hall in the capital as well as in Istanbul, ending 25 years of the Justice and Development Party and its Islamist predecessor governing both cities.

 

 The loss of Istanbul, the country's commercial and cultural capital, was particularly hard for Erdogan. He began his political ascent as Istanbul's mayor.

 

 At pre-election rallies, the president had repeatedly told crowds, "Whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkey" and "Whoever loses Istanbul, loses Turkey."

 

 Istanbul, with its 15 million residents and strategic location straddling Europe and Asia, accounted for 31% of Turkey's GDP of $851 billion in 2017 and draws millions of tourists.

 

 The city government had a budget of $8.8 billion last year. The municipality has awarded lucrative contracts to businesses close to the government over the years and offers huge financial resources and employment opportunities. </s> Turkish voters go to polls in critical municipal elections

ISTANBUL (AP) — Voters in Turkey began casting ballots in Sunday's municipal elections, which are seen as a barometer of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's popularity amid a sharp economic downturn in the nation that straddles Europe and Asia.

More than 57 million eligible voters are making choices in 200,000 polling stations across the country to elect the mayors for 30 large metropolitan cities, 51 provincial capitals and 922 districts. They are also voting to elect local assembly representatives as well as tens of thousands of neighborhood or village administrators.

Erdogan's past electoral successes have been based on economic prosperity, but with a weakening currency, inflation at double-digit figures and food prices soaring, his conservative, Islamic-based ruling party could lose control of key mayoral seats.

The municipal elections are also a first test for Erdogan since he won elections last year that ushered in a new system that gave him wide powers.

Opposition parties are mostly coordinating strategies and running under alliances in an effort to maximize the chances to unseat ruling party officials.

The main battleground appears to be for Ankara, the capital, where opinion polls have suggested that Mansur Yavas, an opposition alliance candidate, could upset a quarter of a century rule by Erdogan's Justice and Development Party and its predecessor. Mehmet Ozhaseki, former minister of environment and urban planning, who is running on the ticket for Erdogan and his nationalist allies.

In Istanbul, Erdogan named former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, who also served previously as transport minister, to run against Ekrem Imamoglu from the opposition.

"Whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkey," Erdogan has said in election rallies. His rise to power began as Istanbul mayor in 1994.

Erdogan has campaigned tirelessly for his party's candidates, portraying the country's economic woes as an attack by western nations on Turkey and has framed the race a matter of "national survival." On Saturday, he spoke at six rallies in Istanbul, which Turkish television stations broadcast live.

Erdogan has been using fiercely polarizing rhetoric against opposition candidates. The ruling party has accused Ankara mayoral candidate Yavas of forgery and tax evasion while also threatening to depose mayors from a pro-Kurdish party if they win seats in the country's predominantly Kurdish southeast.

Since 2016, Erdogan's government has replaced elected mayors in about 100 municipalities held by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, replacing them with government-appointed trustees and claiming the ousted officials had alleged links to outlawed Kurdish militants.

The pro-Kurdish party aims to win back those seats. It is also strategically sitting out critical races in Turkey's major cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, with the aim of sending votes to their secular opposition rival to help challenge Erdogan's party. </s> “Turkish campaigns have no place here in Germany,” de Maiziere told ARD broadcaster, adding that there were “clear limits” such as “insulting Germany or its constitutional order.”

Earlier in March, Ankara accused Berlin of blocking several rallies across Germany aimed at promoting support for Turkey's referendum on constitutional changes among Turkish expat community. Commenting on the restrictions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Germany's activities were "no different to those of the Nazi period." The office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that such statements were "uncalled-for and unjustifiable."

Following the Dutch authorities' landing refusal for Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and a decision to deny entry for Family and Social Affairs Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya to the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam on Saturday, Ankara reacted furiously, promising reciprocal actions and sanctions against the Netherlands. </s> ROTTERDAM, Netherlands —The escalating dispute between NATO allies Turkey and the Netherlands hit a new low Sunday, with a Turkish minister escorted out of the country less than a day after Turkey’s foreign minister was denied entry, prompting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to call the Dutch “Nazi remnants.”

The diplomatic clash was over plans by Turkish government officials to campaign in the Netherlands for a referendum back home. Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya had arrived in the country from Germany but was prevented from entering Turkey’s diplomatic compound in Rotterdam, setting up a standoff with armed police. She was later sent under escort back to Germany.

As she was approaching the German border, Kaya wrote that “the whole world must take action against this fascist practice! Such a treatment against a woman minister cannot be accepted.”

The Dutch were equally angry and Prime Minister Mark Rutte called Erdogan’s Nazi comment “a crazy remark,” while Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said the Turkish consul general was guilty of a “scandalous deception” after he allegedly denied that the minister was coming despite government warnings to stay away.

“He lied to us and didn’t tell the truth,” the mayor said. “The deception worsened when they drove in different columns to Rotterdam” to try to fool Dutch authorities.

Hundreds of pro-Turkey protesters scuffled with police into the night in Rotterdam.

The diplomatic clash with Kaya came after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was barred from landing in the Netherlands on Saturday and Turkish officials closed off the Dutch Embassy and called its ambassador no longer welcome.

The Dutch barred Cavusoglu from entering because of objections to his intention to attend a rally in Rotterdam for a referendum on constitutional reforms to expand Erdogan’s powers, which the Dutch see as a step backward from democracy. Turkish officials have been campaigning in various European cities with Turkish populations before the April 16 vote.

The Dutch government said it withdrew landing permission because of “risks to public order and security,” leading Cavusoglu to say: “So is the foreign minister of the Turkish republic a terrorist?”

Erdogan told a rally in Istanbul that the Dutch “do not know politics or international diplomacy.” He compared them to “Nazi remnants, they are fascists.”

Erdogan had earlier this month already compared German policies to “Nazi practices,” after German municipalities canceled several campaign events by Turkish officials last weekend.

He told a rally in Istanbul Saturday: “You can stop our foreign minister’s plane all you want, let’s see how your (diplomatic) planes will come to Turkey from now on.”

In the evening, a Turkish foreign ministry official who spoke on customary anonymity said the Dutch Embassy in Ankara and its consulate in Istanbul were closed off because of security reasons.

The official said entries and exits were closed to the two locations. Similar precautions were taken at the Dutch charge d’affaires’ house and the ambassador’s residence.

The Turkish foreign ministry also said that it doesn’t want to see the Dutch ambassador, who is out of the country, return to his post for some time because of the increasingly divisive dispute with the Netherlands.

In a written statement early Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said his country will strongly respond to the Dutch actions.

“There will be a stronger reprisal against the unacceptable treatment toward Turkey and ministers who have diplomatic immunity,” Yildirim said.

Cavusoglu said he arrived in Metz, France, late Saturday, where he was expected to address crowds on Sunday.

The diplomatic row comes at a time when relations between Turkey and the European Union, of which the Netherlands is a member, have been steadily worsening, especially in the wake of Erdogan’s actions since last year’s failed coup. More than 41,000 people have been arrested and 100,000 civil servants fired from their jobs.

Cavusoglu said that “unfortunately Europe and several countries in Europe, the Netherlands being in the first place, they are reminiscent of the Europe of World War II. The same racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, we see all the crimes against humanity in today’s politics.”

The dispute also comes just days before the Netherlands goes to the polls next Wednesday for the lower house of Parliament. The campaign has been dominated by issues of identity, with anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders set to make strong gains.

Earlier Saturday, Cavusoglu said “Wilders is racist, fascist, Nazi, like a Nazi.” Citing comments that Wilders wanted action against Muslims, Cavusoglu said: “What are you going to do? Are you going to kill them, burn them or what?” </s> Turkish election authorities have voided a major election victory for the country's main opposition party, according to Turkish state media. A re-run of the election for the mayor of Istanbul, Turkey's most populous city, will reportedly be held on June 23.

Ekrem Imamoglu from the opposition Republican People's Party (known as the CHP) narrowly won the mayor's race on March 31.

Imamoglu denounced the Turkish election authority in a speech to supporters on Monday, saying that they had buckled under pressure from the government, as Reuters reported. "They were placed under political pressure from day one."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party, which has held that position of mayor of Istanbul for some 25 years, had file a complaint against the result.

Erdogan had said that there were "clearly irregularities" in the voting, as NPR's Peter Kenyon reported from Istanbul. According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, the country's Supreme Election Council ruled in favor of the ruling Justice and Development Party's complaint by seven votes to four.

"You are free to compete against the [ruling] AKP in an election, but you are not allowed to win," CHP deputy chairman Onursal Adiguzel said in a tweet. "This order, in which the will of the people is trampled on and the laws are ignored, is neither democratic nor legitimate. This is a downright dictatorship!"

The ruling party candidate, Binali Yildirim, has said that he hoped the ruling would mean "beneficial and beautiful results for Istanbul," as Reuters reported.

The Turkish lira tumbled on Monday afternoon as reports emerged of a re-run.

According to local newspaper Hurriyet, the AKP had alleged that "there were tens of thousands of ineligible voters who cast votes in the elections and that scores of polling station officials were appointed against regulations."

Some observers say the decision erodes democracy in Turkey.

"Until now, it was one man, one vote, from now on it is: vote until the governing party wins," said Soner Cagaptay, the director of the Turkish Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Today's decision to reverse the Istanbul mayoral election is the greatest distortion of democratic elections in Turkey since the country's first free and fair polls in 1950."

Erdogan's party also lost the mayor's race in Ankara, the country's capital, in the March country-wide municipal elections where he was actively campaigning for his party's candidates.

Erdogan himself was mayor of Istanbul in the late 1990s. As the BBC notes, he has often remarked, "Whoever wins Istanbul wins Turkey." </s> ISTANBUL (AP) — The Latest on disputed mayoral elections in Turkey (all times local):

Turkey's state-run news agency says the country's highest electoral body has ruled for a rerun of the Istanbul mayoral election after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party challenged the legitimacy of the vote an opposition candidate narrowly won.

Anadolu Agency said the Supreme Electoral Board on Monday ruled in favor of Erdogan's conservative and Islamic-based party and annulled the results of the March 31 local election in Istanbul. It was not immediately clear when the election would be repeated.

In a major setback to Erdogan's 16-year rule, the opposition took control of local governments in the capital of Ankara and Istanbul, ending the ruling party's decades-long control of both cities.

Erdogan's party challenged the results in Istanbul, maintaining that alleged irregularities had affected the outcome.

Turkey's highest electoral board is meeting to decide whether an opposition politician is the rightful winner of Istanbul's mayoral race — or whether a new election must be held.

Ekrem Imamoglu narrowly won the race for mayor of Istanbul in Turkey's March 31 local elections, defeating ruling party candidate Binali Yildirim, a former prime minister.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party is however, challenging the result, citing alleged irregularities that it insists impacted the result of the vote. It wants the election in the city to be repeated.

The Supreme Electoral Board began its deliberations on Monday. A decision could come later or in the next few days. </s> Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised a decision to repeat Istanbul’s mayoral election, which his party narrowly lost, saying a rerun would remove the pall cast over the March vote by allegations of “organised corruption”.

The Supreme Electoral Council late on Monday nullified the results of the March 31st poll in which the opposition’s Ekrem Imamoglu defeated the ruling party’s candidate by about 13,000 votes. A new election will be held on June 23rd.

On Tuesday the Turkish lira fell to its lowest level since October while the country’s bonds came under pressure, as the controversial decision to annul the election results sharpened investor concerns.

Mr Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) had contested the Istanbul poll result, claiming voter fraud and other irregularities. The president told members of his party that he had initially been prepared to accept the result but that a series of recounts in the ensuing weeks revealed that “15,000 AKP voters’ electoral will had been usurped”.

“I sincerely believe there was organised corruption and full illegalities and irregularities in the Istanbul municipality election,” said Mr Erdogan.

The decision to rerun the mayoral election outraged the opposition, with the head of Mr Imamoglu’s Republican People’s party (CHP) accusing the electoral board members of colluding with the AKP. “You are destroying the rule of law and justice. With this decision, they rejected the people’s will. They were unable to prove that a single voter committed fraud,” said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, CHP chairman.

Meral Aksener, head of the opposition Good party that backed Mr Imamoglu, said the decision to nullify the March vote amounted to “theft”.

A number of smaller parties, including the conservative Felicity party which won about 100,000 votes in the disputed poll, also expressed support for Mr Imamoglu, signalling they could withdraw their candidates from the rerun election.

Tusiad, Turkey’s largest business group, said the rerun would distract from efforts to rescue the country’s economy from recession. “During a time when we need to be focused on an agenda of comprehensive economic and democratic reforms, a return to an election environment is worrisome,” it said on Twitter.

Mr Erdogan lashed out at members of the business community for their “strange” remarks after the election body’s ruling. “If you work in the economy or are a businessman, do your job,” he said. “If you are aiming to intervene with the electoral judiciary, then we know where you stand and our view of you will change accordingly.” – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2019
The European Union and leading member states such as Belgium, France and Germany, criticize the Turkish government's decision to re-run Istanbul's mayoral election, which was won by underdog Ekrem İmamoğlu of the opposition multi-party Nation Alliance.