Examination by Police in Büyükçekmece Upon 'Fake Voters’ Allegation of AKP

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Ali İhsan Yavuz, the Vice Chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) responsible for Electoral Affairs, previously alleged that the residential addresses of 11 thousand 186 people who previously did not live in Büyükçekmece, İstanbul were moved to the district in the pre-election period.

AKP Vice Chair Yavuz claimed that kindergartens, lorry garages, empty fields and construction sites were registered as the residential addresses of the people in question. Based on these allegations, the party appealed to the Supreme Election Council (YSK) on April 7, demanding that the local elections be cancelled in Büyükçekmece.

No one taken into custody

Making examinations in addresses where voters were allegedly moved, police officers have been checking whether the people registered in these places actually live there or not.

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), no operation has been conducted and no one has been taken into custody.

'If votes of AKP are stolen, where are AKP MPs?'

Accusing the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) of sharing false numbers regarding the unofficial local election results, AKP Vice Chair Ali İhsan Yavuz also stated,

"We have detected that the residences of 11 thousand 186 people were moved to Büyükçekmece. I am asking now: Is it possible for someone to do all these things without the help of others?"

Making a statement in response to the allegations of Yavuz, former CHP MP Barış Yarkadaş said, "If it is the AKP whose votes were stolen, then, why is it the MPs of the CHP keeping watch, rather than those of AKP?"

After the YSK rejected the request of the AKP for recounting all votes in 31 districts in İstanbul, the CHP İstanbul Organization released a statement and said, "İstanbul finally has its mayor."

Response by CHP to Byükçekmece allegations

Holding a statement for the press last evening (April 8), CHP Spokesperson Faik Öztrak made the following remarks on the allegations:

"First of all, we have to say that voter lists became definite on January 31. Why didn't you do anything until then? I will tell you what we did:

"The irregularities done in these registrations by a worker in Büyükçekmece, who was appointed to the civil registry upon the request of the Governor, the District Governor, date back to the year 2017.

"The irregularities in question involve 354 voters. We, as the CHP, objected to 767 people in Büyükçekmece, including these 354 people.

"The voter registrations of 741 people, including the registrations of these 354 people, were removed from Büyükçekmece.

"They say that people are registered in a demolished building. The building in question is in a process of urban transformation. The people who normally live in that building move to the streets in the vicinity, but they are still registered there. The police went there and made examinations. What are they up to now? What kind of a perception are they trying to create? They are trying to invent fabricated scenarios from things that do not exist." (PT/SD)