• Disrupting Power Since 2015
  • Donate
  • Login
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
Canary
MEDIA THAT DISRUPTS
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION
SUPPORT
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Canary
No Result
View All Result

UK delegation in Turkey says it has seen proof of election fraud

Eliza Egret by Eliza Egret
17 May 2023
in Analysis, Global
Reading Time: 5 mins read
166 7
A A
0
Home UK Analysis
321
SHARES
2.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

On 14 May, Turkey’s all-important parliamentary and presidential elections took place. The eyes of the world were focused on the presidential vote: would fascistic Recep Tayyip Erdoğan keep hold of his 20 years in power? Or would his opponent, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, finally overthrow him? It was, of course, never going to be a simple fight. Neither of the candidates reached the required 50% of votes to win, so the presidential race will go to a run-off on 28 May.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary election received less coverage. The truly democratic, pro-Kurdish HDP ran under the new banner Yeşil Sol Parti (Green Left Party) because it was expecting to be criminalised by the Turkish state. It won 61 seats, but claims that it should have won more.

As always during election time in Turkey, the HDP/Yeşil Sol called for international observers to come and monitor the elections. Turkey always intimidates Kurdish voters with armoured vehicles, as well as armed police at polling stations. 2023 was, of course, no exception. Election monitors were also intimidated, and a Spanish delegation was rounded up, jailed and then deported.

The UK delegation was, for the most part, able to do its job, travelling around the Kurdish region to monitor the polling stations. However, it reported that it saw “several instances of electoral interference”:

This included, for instance, military officers intimidating local voters in Şemdinli and hundreds of military personnel arriving to vote in Büyükçiftlik, Yüksekova that were unknown to local people. The delegation witnessed at least 30 of the soldiers attending a special booth that only military personnel were voting at.

Fraud during Turkey’s elections

The delegation argued that the election results were neither free nor fair. It said:

We have been shown proof that election fraud by the Turkish authorities took place when the election results approved by local election committees were typed into the national database. The local campaigners gave us direct evidence of two cases – approved local election committee documents and the published final result.

The documents were shown to the Canary. The delegation explained how the fascist party, the MHP, had stolen the exact number of votes that Yeşil Sol had gained, and reported them as its own figure in two different regions:

The local election committee document in district 1234, Bismil, Diyarbakır, shows 233 votes for the Green Left Party (YSP), while the final result reported shows 0 for YSP and 233 for the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Similarly, in district 1912 in Hakkari, the local election committee document shows 228 for YSP and 0 for MHP, while the officially published result shows 228 for MHP and 0 for YSP.

This was backed up by HDP Europe, which tweeted:

There are multiple reports shows that the Green Left Party’s votes were registered to Erdogan’s coalition partner far-right nationalists MHP.

There are many voting frauds took place especially in Kurdish populated cities. https://t.co/hqVQv2Tdtj pic.twitter.com/zAjzLfbMrZ

— DEM Party Europe (@DEM_Europe) May 16, 2023

Discrepancies

After much dispute, the delegation told the Canary that the two instances of stolen votes mentioned above had been “given back” to the YSP. These cases of attempted fraud were intercepted. But observers still on the ground stated that there are discrepancies with thousands of ballot boxes. The delegation said:

The YSP is trying to challenge these cases with the Supreme Electoral Board, and a representative of the party in Diyarbakır told the UK group that they are aware of hundreds of instances of this happening, and the number is continuously changing due to administrative complications at each point in the process.

It continued:

The official deadline for complaints was…Tuesday 16 May 3pm, but the state has been unresponsive to most of the cases raised by the YSP. This, in combination with the tactics of the AKP members of local election committees asking for numerous recounts, means that these suspicious results were sent late to the national election system so that there has been limited time to challenge any fraud.

‘Unjustified advantage’

The delegation talked about the massive advantage that Erdoğan, his AKP party, and fascistic People’s Alliance bloc, had in the run-up to the election. An obvious example of this is the control of the nation’s media. Turkey is known as the world’s biggest jail for journalists. Anyone who criticises the president or his policies are likely to find themselves on trial and locked up. Indeed, in the run up to the election, Turkish police raided and detained at least 128 people in 21 cities.

Of those detained ten were journalists, including Kurdish female journalist Beritan Canözer, who has previously given an interview to the Canary and who is repeatedly targeted by the state. On 16 May, ten journalists went to trial in Ankara. The HDP said:

Erdogan is trying to silence the journalists he cannot control (especially Kurdish journalists) by arresting them on arbitrary grounds.

The delegation said:

Widespread repression and harassment by police of the Kurdish opposition party was witnessed over several weeks of their delegation like arrests of opposition politicians and party members, journalists and lawyers, and police suppression of rallies. This is, in fact, a long-term systematic interference of the electoral freedom. The repression of the Turkish state is ever-present. Several YSP officials told us that if Erdogan wins, they expect to be in prison.

Meanwhile, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCEPA) reported that

 “the incumbent president and the ruling parties enjoyed an unjustified advantage, including through biased media coverage. The continued restrictions on fundamental freedoms of assembly, association and expression hindered the participation of some opposition politicians and parties, civil society and independent media in the election process… there was a lack of transparency and communication, as well as concerns over its independence.”

It is clear that Erdoğan and his allies will do all that they can to hold onto power. The 28 May presidential run-off will be no different, and we can expect more intimidation and fear on the streets to come.

Featured image via UK election delegation

Share128Tweet80
Previous Post

Activist jailed for over two years for protesting over arms companies supporting Israel’s apartheid

Next Post

Owner of Uniqlo and Zara accused of profiting from forced labour of Uyghur minorities

Next Post
Workers at a fast fashion factory in Indonesia, such places are often accused of human rights violations in the area of forced labour

Owner of Uniqlo and Zara accused of profiting from forced labour of Uyghur minorities

The Royal Mail logo as Royal Fail CWU IDS Wirral

Royal Mail's catastrophic financial free fall leaves the CWU in a difficult position

Universal Credit logo DWP benefits TUC

The DWP just pulled a fast one over the Universal Credit increase, conning countless claimants

Imran Khan, former leader of Pakistan

Imran Khan is a product of the very system he rails against

The NHS is oversubscribed and underfunded thanks to decades of purposeful neglect

The NHS is oversubscribed and underfunded thanks to decades of purposeful neglect

Please login to join discussion
Horoscope today: your 24-hour briefing for life, love, and more
Horoscopes

Horoscope today: your 24-hour briefing for life, love, and more

by Steve Topple
21 May 2025
DWP open source banking
Analysis

The DWP is quietly trying to get a private company to connect it to disabled people’s bank accounts

by Steve Topple
20 May 2025
gideon's chariots Gaza
Analysis

Gideon’s Chariots: leaked plan shows Israel intentionally pushing Gaza to famine and forced displacement

by Alaa Shamali
20 May 2025
Gideon's Chariots Gaza
Analysis

“عربات جدعون.. مخطط إسرائيلي يقود غزة نحو مجاعة مُمنهجة وتهجير قسري

by Alaa Shamali
20 May 2025
Our friends at Pauzeradio have got the perfect Reggae clothing line for this summer
Lifestyle

Our friends at Pauzeradio have got the perfect Reggae clothing line for this summer

by Steve Topple
20 May 2025
  • Contact
  • About & FAQ
  • Get our Daily News Email
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

The Canary
PO Box 71199
LONDON
SE20 9EX

Canary Media Ltd – registered in England. Company registration number 09788095.

For guest posting, contact [email protected]

For other enquiries, contact: [email protected]

The Canary is owned and run by independent journalists and volunteers, NOT offshore billionaires.

You can write for us, or support us by making a regular or one-off donation.

© Canary Media Ltd 2024, all rights reserved | Website by Monster | Hosted by Krystal | Privacy Settings

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion

© 2023 Canary - Worker's co-op.

Before you go, have you seen...?

Horoscope today: your 24-hour briefing for life, love, and more
Horoscopes
Steve Topple

Horoscope today: your 24-hour briefing for life, love, and more

DWP open source banking
Analysis
Steve Topple

The DWP is quietly trying to get a private company to connect it to disabled people’s bank accounts

gideon's chariots Gaza
Analysis
Alaa Shamali

Gideon’s Chariots: leaked plan shows Israel intentionally pushing Gaza to famine and forced displacement

Gideon's Chariots Gaza
Analysis
Alaa Shamali

“عربات جدعون.. مخطط إسرائيلي يقود غزة نحو مجاعة مُمنهجة وتهجير قسري

ADVERTISEMENT
Analysis
Nathan Spears

Vote for the Press Photograph of the Year 2024

Image by Burkard Meyendriesch from Pixabay
Feature
Nathan Spears

Why Santiago Ways is the Leading Choice for Walking the Camino de Santiago

Environment
Nathan Spears

EU elections point to growing public desire for new policymaking approach in Brussels