ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least one person was killed and 11 others were wounded after an altercation broke out between voters at a polling station in a village in southeast Turkey’s Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir (Amed).
The incident occurred in a station in Agaclidere, around 35 kilometers from central Diyarbakir, as voters were casting ballots to elect the local chieftain. The exact nature of the altercation or the reasons behind it have yet to be clarified.
Polling stations opened across 32 provinces of Turkey, including Diyarbakir, at 7:00 am local time, as over 61 million eligible voters are set to cast ballots throughout the country.
The polls, which includes over one million first-time voters, will determine local administrators across the country’s 81 provinces for the next five years.
The incident occurred in a station in Agaclidere, around 35 kilometers from central Diyarbakir, as voters were casting ballots to elect the local chieftain. The exact nature of the altercation or the reasons behind it have yet to be clarified.
Polling stations opened across 32 provinces of Turkey, including Diyarbakir, at 7:00 am local time, as over 61 million eligible voters are set to cast ballots throughout the country.
The polls, which includes over one million first-time voters, will determine local administrators across the country’s 81 provinces for the next five years.
Dozens of elected pro-Kurdish mayors in Turkey have been stripped of their offices over the years and replaced with state-linked trustees (administrators) due to their alleged links with the Kurdish rebels.
There is a long history of animosity and conflict over Kurdish issues and rights in Turkey. The state has at times gone as far as denying the very existence of Kurds.
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