Ballots, lists, gifts
“Many small election manipulations” in Turkey election
05/14/2023, 7:08 p.m
The “fateful elections” in Turkey are taking place more peacefully than expected. However, a Kurdish organization is bringing together a whole series of manipulation scams that are said to have happened in the country – mainly from Erdogan’s AKP party.
According to a Kurdish organization, there was “a lot of election manipulation on a smaller scale” in the elections in Turkey. For example, in many places it was reported that ballot papers had already been stamped when they were distributed, said the Kurdish Center for Public Relations, Civaka Azad, based in Berlin. Invalid notes were also distributed accordingly. In addition, according to Civaka Azad, several thousand people were prevented from voting because they were named as poll workers without their knowledge (…) or because they were not given a ballot paper because their names were allegedly not on the lists.
There have also been numerous violations of the 24-hour “propaganda ban” in force in Turkey – especially by the governing party AKP and its coalition partner MHP. For example, voters received SMS messages from candidates, and gifts or advertising were distributed in front of the polling stations.
Military mainly in Kurdish provinces
The high presence of the military and police – especially in predominantly Kurdish provinces – was very noticeable and, according to election observers, contributed to severe intimidation of society, explained Civaka Azad. Images and videos of minor violent clashes in polling stations, mostly from AKP supporters, were distributed on the Internet.
In summary, the so-called “fate elections” have so far been much more peaceful than feared, it said. The mood is likely to remain tense in the coming hours. The German consulate in Istanbul warned of possible unrest after the polling stations closed in a non-public e-mail.
In Turkey, the polling stations for the presidential and parliamentary elections have been closed since 5 p.m. and the counting of the votes has started. The first results of the election, which could mean the end of the rule of long-time head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are expected in the evening.