the invalidation of the election of a pro-Kurdish candidate provokes anger

The invalidation of the election of a pro-Kurdish party mayor in Van, in eastern Turkey, in favor of the ruling party candidate, aroused anger as far away as Istanbul on Tuesday April 2. The elected representative of the DEM, the main pro-Kurdish party in Turkey, nevertheless emerged victorious in the municipal elections on Sunday, underlines his party. “It’s a political putsch.”reacted DEM co-president Tuncer Bakirhan during a rally in front of the High Electoral Council in Ankara, the Turkish capital.

Abdullah Zeydan was elected with 55.48% of the vote in this large predominantly Kurdish city, close to the Iranian border, against 27.15% for his main rival the AKP, the party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Third political force in Parliament, the DEM denounces a decision “illegal” of the electoral commission. Hundreds of supporters gathered in front of the party headquarters in Van to express their solidarity with the elected official, throwing smoke bombs and setting up barricades, according to images from the Turkish news agency DHA.

Around a hundred people also gathered in a tense atmosphere in Kadikoy, on the Asian side of Istanbul, a district traditionally rebellious and hostile to the government. “Not handing over his mandate to the DEM party candidate elected mayor of Van is to deny the will of the people of Van. This is unacceptable”reacted on