‘Ahmet Türk is Not Given His Certificate of Election as a Delaying Tactic’

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Though Ahmet Türk, the candidate of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), has been elected the Metropolitan Mayor of Mardin according to unofficial local election results, he has not yet been given his certificate of election due to the objections of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

While Ahmet Türk has received 208 thousand 854 votes (56.24 percent), Mehmet Vejdi Kahraman, the candidate of the AKP, has received 143 thousand 60 votes (38.53 percent).

Enver Ete, the advisor of Ahmet Türk, has commented that Türk has not yet been given his certificate of election as a delaying tactic.

Emphasizing that the municipality is still administered by the state-appointed trustee, Enver Ete has further stated that people are unlawfully appointed to the municipal administration:

Objection by the AKP:'He cannot be the mayor'

"Ahmet Türk has received almost 209 thousand votes in Mardin and when the elections came to an end, he was ahead of AKP candidate Mehmet Vejdi Kahraman by 65 thousand votes.

"There were objections raised by the AKP in the districts, but the majority of them have not been accepted. On Monday (April 1), the AKP raised an objection, stating that Ahmet Türk was previously detained, arrested and a trustee was appointed in his place. As they also did in Siirt, it was an objection, indicating that Ahmet Türk cannot get the status of a mayor.

"The objections were not directed at the elections or their results. They directly raised an objection, stating that Ahmet Türk cannot be the mayor.

"The Provincial Election Council has rejected this objection. But, there is a petition submitted by the AKP to the election council. The Provincial Election Council has three days to give its decision regarding this petition. We are now waiting for the expiration of this three-day legal period. But, we don't know whether they will appeal to Supreme Election Council (YSK) or not.

'They want the mayorship'

"In the current situation, Ahmet Türk is already the Mayor of Mardin. He has just been suspended from duty by appointing a trustee, which is the reason for the objection raised by the AKP.

"They do not want re-election in Mardin. What they want is to directly take the mayorship from Ahmet Türk and give it to the candidate of the AKP."

Speaking to bianet, Enver Ete has further stated that Ahmet Türk has not been given his certificate of election as a tactic to delay the change of municipal administration. According to Ete, the people who have been recently appointed to senior positions and the areas recently zoned for construction can be the reason for this delaying tactic.

Giving details about these recent high-profile appointments and fields zoned for construction, Ete has concluded his remarks as follows:

"Apart from that, we don't know what is going on or what they are up to inside the municipality. But, we understand that they are trying to gain time. Because it is quite obvious that there is an irregularity." (HA/SD)