İYİ Party Chair Meral Akşener: We Completely Reject This Coup

* Photograph: Evrim Aydın / Ankara - Anadolu Agency

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Meral Akşener, the Chair of İYİ Party, which run in March 31 local elections as the Nation Alliance with main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), spoke in the weekly group meeting of her party today (May 7) and addressed the Supreme Election Council's (YSK) decision to cancel the Metropolitan Mayoral Elections in İstanbul and hold repeat elections.

It has been reported that Akşener will meet Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Metropolitan Mayor of İstanbul elected from the Nation Alliance according to unofficial local election results, at 1 p.m. today.

Indicating that "I am ashamed to talk about the situation that they put Turkey in, I am ashamed to talk about it", Akşener stated the following:

'Then, all balloting committees should be inspected'

"I am now asking before the Turkish nation: Didn't we all use the same envelope in electing the metropolitan mayor, district mayor, municipal council and neighborhood head in İstaanbul elections? Weren't the balloting committee chairs the same people?

"There were four voting papers inside a single envelope and among all these, they have chosen the metropolitan mayorship, which they lost, and cancel it: Can that be explained with conscience, with reason?

"I am asking the ones responsible for this tyranny: Won't you check all balloting committees in Turkey. Don't you think of checking the balloting committees of June 24 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections as well?

"As the İYİ Party, we demand that all balloting committee chairs who were on duty in both March 31 and June 24 elections be inspected.

'We completely reject this coup'

'This verdict is not only a disrespect to the will of the opposition party, but it is also a disrespect to the will of the citizens who voted for the AK Party.

"The universal values and rules of democracy were clear. No one has the right to interfere in the rules of the judiciary and democracy. We completely reject this coup." (PT/SD)