Turkish authorities have scrapped the result of a vote for Istanbul mayor that was lost by the candidate backed by the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in response to calls by his AK party for a rerun. In a move that hit the lira and drew opposition accusations of “dictatorship“, the high election board (YSK) ruled that a fresh Istanbul mayoral contest must be held on 23 June. The AK party representative at the board, Recep Özel, said the decision was based on unsigned results documents from the 31 March poll and the fact that some ballot box officials were not civil servants. Turkey’s main opposition, the Republican People’s party (CHP), whose candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu narrowly won the mayor’s office in the country’s largest city, called the ruling a “plain dictatorship. He said it was a “treacherous decision” and vowed to fight on. “They are trying to take back the election we won. Maybe you are upset but never lose your hope,” he told thousands of supporters in central Istanbul following the ruling. Kati Piri, the European parliament’s Turkey rapporteur, said the decision “ends the credibility of democratic transition of power through elections” in the country. Reuters witnesses said people were banging on pots and pans in protest in several Istanbul districts. The AKP appealed for the rerun after initial results and a series of recounts showed it had lost control of Istanbul for the first time in 25 years. It was a shock defeat for Erdoğan, who served as the city’s mayor in the 1990s and campaigned hard before the vote, his first electoral test since last year’s sharp currency crisis tipped the Turkish economy into recession. The Turkish lira weakened and was at 6.1075 against the dollar at 1730 GMT, on track for its worst day in more than a month. The currency has tumbled more than 10% since a week before the initial election. Suspense over the ruling had left investors worried that weeks of additional campaigning would divert funds and attention from addressing economic reforms. “This is damaging for Turkey’s perception as a democracy and will leave Turkey’s economy vulnerable, given risks to macro financial stability in the period to July,” said Timothy Ash of Blue Bay Asset Management. One CHP member of parliament, Mehmet Bekaroğlu, said on Arti TV that the AKP pressurised and threatened YSK judges with prison if they voted against a rerun. “It is illegal to win against the AK party,” the CHP deputy chair, Onursal Adıgüzel, said on Twitter. “This system that overrules the will of the people and disregards the law is neither democratic, nor legitimate.” In the capital Ankara – where the AKP also lost the mayor’s office to the CHP – police blocked the entrance to the YSK’s headquarters on Monday evening. With its nationalist MHP allies, the AKP wanted the Istanbul results annulled and cited irregularities that affected the outcome, which, it claimed, gave about 13,000 votes to CHP. On Saturday, Erdoğan said “it’s clear” the vote was marred by controversy and urged the YSK to “clear its name” with a rerun. İmamoğlu officially took office last month. Since then, prosecutors have started investigations into alleged irregularities and called 100 polling station workers in for questioning as suspects.<doc-sep>ISTANBUL — Turkey’s electoral authorities wiped away a crushing defeat for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, ordering a rerun of the race for mayor of Istanbul won by the opposition and heightening the prospect of social unrest and a new economic crisis. The decision by the High Election Council was immediately condemned by the opposition party as a capitulation to Mr. Erdogan and a blow to the democratic foundations of the country, which have drifted closer to authoritarianism under his 18 years in power. Mr. Erdogan has jailed journalists, isolated adversaries and conducted mass purges of the police, the military and the courts. He has strengthened his powers under the Constitution. Now, critics say Mr. Erdogan has managed to invalidate what had been a humiliating defeat for his party in Istanbul, the country’s largest city, commercial capital — and the president’s hometown. Though Mr. Erdogan secured another five-year term as president with sweeping new powers in an election last year, he was rendered suddenly vulnerable by his party’s poor showing in the March 31 voting, which took place as the economy has begun to falter.<doc-sep>The AKP claims that there were irregularities that invalidate the vote. The decision to hold a new poll on 23 June sparked protests across Istanbul on Monday. Hundreds of people gathered in several districts, banging pots and pans and shouting anti-government slogans.<doc-sep>After officials on Monday ordered a re-run of elections in Istanbul, several municipalities took to Twitter urging people from the city not to come on holiday in June, but to stay and vote. Coastal cities held by opposition parties kicked off the campaign on Twitter, using different techniques to dissuade voters from visiting on June 23 — the date of the new vote. Mayor of Adana Metropolitan Municipality, a major city in southern Turkey, Zeydan Karalar from the National Alliance party, published a tweet on the area's official Twitter account that jokingly stated: "150 degrees in Adana on June 23". A tweet also appeared on the southwestern Municipality of Bodrum's Twitter account that read: "Dear people of Istanbul, according to our information, the weather will be very stormy and snow is even expected on June 23. Due to the bad weather, the beaches will be closed. You can visit our city starting on June 24." As the campaign spread rapidly on social media, Cesme Municipality, situated on the country's west coast, also posted: "Because of a storm coming in from Istanbul, our coastlines are dangerous and it will be forbidden to enter the sea, even on June 23." Many other district municipalities, including Mersin Metropolitan Municipality situated on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey, also supported the campaign. Turkey’s main opposition the Republican People’s party (CHP) on Monday accused authorities of "plain dictatorship" after the electoral board annulled the March 31 result and announced a re-run of the mayoral elections after complaints of corruption. READ MORE: Turkey orders re-run of Istanbul election after Erdogan party defeat CHP Deputy Chairman Onursal Adiguzel said it appeared "illegal" to defeat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party AK Party, which suffered a surprise defeat in the vote. Erdogan welcomed the order claiming a new poll was the "best step" for the country. The CHP said on Wednesday it asked authorities to annul 2018's national elections as well as elections in March for Istanbul mayor and other local posts in the wake of the re-run ruling. READ MORE: Turkey's CHP appeals to annul Turkey's 2018 vote and entire Istanbul election<doc-sep>
High election body lashes out at CHP for criticisms over Istanbul poll re-run ANKARA Turkey’s electoral authority has lashed out at main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s criticisms against board members for their decision on the renewal of the Istanbul mayoral elections. “It is unacceptable for judges to be personally targeted and be disgraced due to their rulings,” the Supreme Election Council (YSK) said in a statement on May 8. The YSK will continue to perform its duties without being affected by “pressure, libels, insults and threat campaigns,” said the statement. The YSK said no politician has the right to “commit crimes or insult members of the judiciary” even if they have immunity from prosecution. The statement said Kılıçdaroğlu had voiced some claims about council members which contained “insults, threats, and smears and showed them as targets by reading the names of some members of the board.” The statement came after the YSK decided to re-run the Istanbul mayoral election on June 23, which the CHP’s candidate had won. The decision drew an avalanche of criticism from the opposition, which said the elections were being re-run because the AKP’s candidate had lost. In its decision, it said some polling officials and staff during the March 31 election were not civil servants as required by law. But the opposition says that the YSK had not objected to these officials before the elections were held. Under the decision, Ekrem İmamoğlu, a CHP candidate who had been given the mandate to serve as the mayor of the country’s largest city, has had his certificate revoked, with an interim mayor filling the post until the June 23 polls. Millions of Turkish voters cast their votes nationwide on March 31 in the local elections to choose mayors, city council members and other municipal officials.