Turkey
Violence erupted between supporters of the Kurdish-led Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and police in front of a polling station in Sirnak, Turkey, on March 31, 2024. Photo: screengrab/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Violence erupted between supporters of the Kurdish-led Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and police in front of a polling station in Sirnak on Sunday over alleged vote rigging.
"As you can see here, they [the state authorities] have brought 6,000 voters, all military members here from elsewhere," Berivan Kutlu, DEM Party mayoralty candidate in Sirnak told Rudaw. "The people of Sirnak do not accept this violation against their will, so they are protesting against the move.
"The voters they have brought here are not from the Kurdish cities. They are from the Turkish metropolitan cities."
Sirnak is a small province in southeastern Turkey, bordering the Kurdistan Region. The DEM Party is believed to win the border province.
Diyarbakir, Sirnak, and Batman are cities with the most Kurdish voters. So the DEM Party is vying to win in all those major cities.
The fierce battle is in Istanbul between Ekrem Imamoglu, the Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate, and Murat Kurum, Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Voting for Turkey’s local elections in 49 provinces, including Istanbul and Ankara, started at 8:00 am local time with the polling stations due to remain open until 4:00 pm.
In Sunday’s vote, over 61 million eligible voters are set to cast ballots throughout the country.
A total of 34 political parties will be competing at over 200,000 polling stations throughout the country, as well as more than 1,000 mobile ballot boxes set up for voters who are unable to travel due to illness or disability.
The polls, which include over one million first-time voters, will determine local administrators across the country’s 81 provinces for the next five years.
"As you can see here, they [the state authorities] have brought 6,000 voters, all military members here from elsewhere," Berivan Kutlu, DEM Party mayoralty candidate in Sirnak told Rudaw. "The people of Sirnak do not accept this violation against their will, so they are protesting against the move.
"The voters they have brought here are not from the Kurdish cities. They are from the Turkish metropolitan cities."
Sirnak is a small province in southeastern Turkey, bordering the Kurdistan Region. The DEM Party is believed to win the border province.
Diyarbakir, Sirnak, and Batman are cities with the most Kurdish voters. So the DEM Party is vying to win in all those major cities.
The fierce battle is in Istanbul between Ekrem Imamoglu, the Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate, and Murat Kurum, Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Voting for Turkey’s local elections in 49 provinces, including Istanbul and Ankara, started at 8:00 am local time with the polling stations due to remain open until 4:00 pm.
In Sunday’s vote, over 61 million eligible voters are set to cast ballots throughout the country.
A total of 34 political parties will be competing at over 200,000 polling stations throughout the country, as well as more than 1,000 mobile ballot boxes set up for voters who are unable to travel due to illness or disability.
The polls, which include over one million first-time voters, will determine local administrators across the country’s 81 provinces for the next five years.
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