Governor Warns İmamoğlu to Cut Rally Short, Threatens to Intervene In

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Ekrem İmamoğlu, stripped of his mandate by the Supreme Election Council (YSK) after winning the elections for the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality on March 31, held rallies in the Black Sea provinces of Trabzon, Ordu and Giresun ahead of the June 23 repeat elections.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate said that the Governor of Ordu Seddar Yavuz pressured them to cut the rally short and prevented him from entering the VIP lounge in the airport.

"We go through the other door. It is not important. But Mr. Governor could not be a statesman," he told Fox TV.

"As for the rally, according to the information that our provincial chairperson gave to me, he said, 'They should cut the rally short, or we will intervene in.' So, the Governor is not a statesman. He is just a person who occupies a seat in Ordu. We are ashamed. There is nothing to do," İmamoğu added.

İmamoğlu won the March 31 elections by getting 14 thousand more votes than the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate Binali Yıldırım. The YSK canceled the elections on May 6 on the ground of irregularities regarding the ballot box councils and ruled for a repeat election to be held on June 23. 

(HA/VK)