Turkey's Erdogan: Election over, now judiciary decides
Turkish president points to Supreme Electoral Council as final arbiter in results of March 31 local elections
Five days after Sunday’s local polls across Turkey, the election itself is over but the judicial process continues, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
“If the results of the provincial [electoral councils] don’t overlap with ours, then the Supreme Electoral Council is the final decision-maker for us,” Erdogan said following Friday prayers in Istanbul.
“It is our right to apply to it,” he added, referring to the ruling Justice and Development (AK) seeking recounts in major cities like Istanbul and Ankara.
The People’s Alliance in the March 31 elections, made up of the AK Party and Nationalist Movement (MHP), got 53.3% of the vote and won 25 of Istanbul’s 39 district municipalities, said Erdogan.
He also touted the high voter turnout in Sunday’s polls, some 82%, saying this gives a “lesson in democracy” to the whole world.
