Statements from Parties and Candidates

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Here are the statements by candidates and parties after the polls closed at 5 p.m. (All times GMT+2)

(19.17) Mansur Yavaş, the main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) candidate for the capital Ankara, tweeted while the counting is continuing, saying, "[Our] faces are smiling. Everything is under control in Ankara. There are hours remaining to peace and fruitfulness to prevail in Ankara. Don't leave polls."

Yüzler gülüyor, Ankara’da her şey kontrol altında. Bereket ve huzurun Ankara’da hakim olmasına saatler kaldı. Sandıklarımızı terk etmeyelim. #Tamamİnşallah pic.twitter.com/wqeCIBaTgQ

— Mansur Yavaş (@mansuryavas06) March 31, 2019

CHP candidate İmamoğlu: There is a nice election environment

(19.17) (CHP's candidate for the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Ekrem İmamoğlu, and the chair of the party's İstanbul provincial organization, Canan Kaftancıoğlu, have made a joint statement, saying,
"There is a nice election environment."

İmamoğlu: We are ahead of Yıldırım

(20.48) Holding a press conference at around 8.30 p.m., İmamoğlu said that İmamoğlu announced the figures in the CHP data entry system. Asserting that the figures of the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) "are not reassuring," İmamoğlu said,

"Unfortunately, data entry began very early and there were very interesting data, like the previous elections. It is surprising that the YSK issued a warning one hour later.

"27.6 percent of the data has been entered into our system. According to these figures, our voting share is 53.2 percent, the rival candidate's (Binali Yıldırım, AKP) voting share is 44.1 percent."

Maçoğlu: We got 5,328 votes

(20.53) Fatih Mehmet Maçoğlu, Communist Party of Turkey's (TKP) candidate for Dersim, said they got 5,328 votes and he got 721 more votes than his rival, the candidate of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). He added that 68 percent of the polls are opened. ,ü

CHP Spokesperson Öztrak: YSK Stopped Data Flow

(20.58) The YSK has reportedly stopped the data flow to the main opposition and the HDP.

CHP Spokesperson Faik Öztrak said the YSK stopped the data flow on the ground of "updating the data."

"Over half an hour, the data flow from the YSK has stopped. Our deputy chairs are going to the YSK. we hope the problem will be solved and we are watching the situation carefully. They say 'updating' as a reason, we have yet to understand what that means."

HDP also made an application to the YSK but did not get a response, the Mezopotamya Agency reported.

İmamoğlu: We are 5.5 points ahead

(22.10) Ekrem İmamoğlu made a new statement around 10 p.m., announcing the figures of the CHP.

"As of now, data entry has stopped on the TVs for 40 hours. In the past, there were 0.5 percent of the data was entered in every three or four minutes.

"Wit that speed, data entry for İstanbul would be completed by now. This has increased our concerns of manipulation.

"We are currently entering our data rhythmically. At the moment, there are 60 percent of the votes.

"There are 18,463 polls. The difference is 5.5 points. Those who are assigned at the polls, please don't leave your duty. We will follow the results till the last minute.

"Please don't leave your duties."

HDP Spokesperson: Why was the data flow stopped?

(23.00) HDP Spokesperson Saruhan Oluç made a statement at his party's headquarters on the issue.

"YSK has to explain the reason for stopping the data flow for one hour to the parties and the society. Otherwise, it will be a tool for casting doubt on the elections and cheating in the elections.

"It is no acceptable that while the Anadolu Agency continues data flow, YSK stopping it for 56 to 50 minutes and explaining it as 'technical malfunction.'"

"Results show that the 'trustee politics' are rejected"

Oluç also talked about the results in the southeastern provinces, where 94 municipalities are run by the government-appointed trustees:

"It has been understood from the results that our strategy in the west was correct. Looking to the geography of Kurdistan, from a couple of places, the results were different than we expected. But the results from other places show that out struggle yielded results and the trustee politics are rejected."

AKP İstanbul Candidate Yıldırım: "We won"

(23.59) The ruling Justice and Development Party's candidate for İstanbul, Binali Yıldırım, has made a speech, claiming that he won the elections:

"I congratulate the İstanbulites for keeping their words. Congratulations for our elections. Thanks to the İstanbul provincial chair, our district chairs, our women's branches, the provincial chair of the MHP (Nationalist Movement Party), which is the other wing of the People's Alliance, the Grey Wolves, the women's branches, and everyone who has efforts in these results."

İmamoğlu: "We are ahead by a big margin"

(23.59) CHP candidate İmamoğlu made a third press statement.

"We have most of the minutes with wet signatures. The view is very clear; we are ahead in İstanbul but a big margin. The TV networks don't show this but you will see that Ekrem İmamoğlu will be the the mayor of the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

"I call the Supreme Election Council, the provincial council for elections and the district councils for elections.

"I don't be unfair to anyone, I don't let anybody to be unfair to me.

"Our voting share is 50.51 percent, our rival's is 46.50 percent."

CHP's Ankara candidate Yavaş: Özhaseki and his dirty politics have lost

(00.48) Mansur Yavaş, the provisional winner of the mayoral race in the capital Ankara, has made a speech.

"Today, who have lost in Ankara iz Özhaseki. Özhaseki and his dirty politics have lost. The winner is democracy. We will keep the politics of hate away from us. We will brotherly embrace this city.

"Peace has won in Ankara. Inshallah, fruitfulness will also come with peace.

"I made a wish when I began this journey. I said that I want to be remembered as everyone's mayor. Now it's on me to keep my word, to be everyone's president."

Erdoğan: "They Rule, We Will See'

(02.20) President and AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made the "balcony speech" which he traditionally makes at election nights.

"We will stand still, we won't be stubborn. Our nation will made as first at the polls for the 15th time.

"The voting share of the People's Alliance is very close to what it was in the June 24 [2018, parliamentary and presidential] elections.

"I see that the only reason we could not get the results in some places is that we could not tell about ourselves enough, we could not get into people's hearts.

"There are no elections for four-and-half years. Here they rule, we will see.

"When you look at Ankara, most of the districts are won by the People's Alliance. In İstanbul, the People's Alliance holds more districts than the number of its current districts, or it is head to head in these places. What does that mean? It means, even if our people gave away the metropolitan municipality, it gave the districts to the AK Party."

(PT/VK)