Yesterday, the Deputy leader of the secular Kemalist CHP opposition party called for the results of Sunday’s Presidential Powers Referendum in Turkey to be nullified due to the Supreme Electoral Board of Turkey’s decision to accept ballots which did not bear the official electoral seal.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe which observed the election has criticised the decision to accept ballots without the official seal, a decision made half way through the day’s vote. The OSCE has said that the last minute changes to the rules,
“…significantly changed the ballot validity criteria, undermining an important safeguard and contradicting the law”.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has been celebrating his vastly expanded powers, responded to the OSCE report saying,
“First, know your place. We won’t see or hear the politically motivated reports you prepare”.
This came as thousands of protesters marched throughout major Turkish cities, dissatisfied both with the result of the election and with the alleged irregularities in a vote which Erdogan’s ‘YES’ camp won by a thin margin of just over 51%.
The discord sown by the close vote which many have said was unfair, in addition to the disparity in the regional distribution of votes, may indeed lead to further social conflict in an increasingly divided Turkey.
March is cheered through streets of #Besiktas and flowers thrown from window home b support of protest #Hayir #TurkeySaidNo @spotturkey pic.twitter.com/JcekB9yFy8
— Steve Sweeney (@SweeneySteve) April 17, 2017
VIDEO: "NO, we won" anti referendum fraud protest in Istanbul's Besiktas. pic.twitter.com/aSRkDdRMew
— Turkey Untold (@TurkeyUntold) April 17, 2017
Hepimizin sloganı Beşiktaş'tan geldi "Kurtuluş yok tek başına, ya hep beraber ya hiçbirimiz" #HileliSonucaHayır pic.twitter.com/CUryvt8OSk
— ahmet (@amedowski) April 17, 2017
Beşiktaş'ta 'Hayır bitmedi' diyen binlerce insan #HileliSonucaHayır diyor…pic.twitter.com/YS0pjMk3rp
— Mahir Ce (@mahirce61) April 17, 2017
VIDEO: Mass anti referendum fraud protest in Istanbul's Kadikoy. pic.twitter.com/6VM7irI2rZ
— Turkey Untold (@TurkeyUntold) April 17, 2017
#kadikoy #güzelgünler #göreceğiz #hayır #HayırDahaBitmedi pic.twitter.com/0BhAxXdUs5
— Esin Tekbas (@esintekbas) April 17, 2017
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