Pro-Kurdish elected mayors stripped of mandates in TurkeyApril 12, 2019 - 13:56 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's chief election authority has ruled that several mayors-elect from the main pro-Kurdish party cannot take up their posts because they were previously dismissed from their jobs under government decrees, the party said on Thursday, April 11, Reuters reports. Saruhan Oluc, spokesman for the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), said his party was being targeted in an "organized political plot" after nationwide local elections on March 31. More than half of the elected HDP mayors are also still waiting to receive their mandates to take up their posts, he said. The country's High Election Board (YSK) has rejected several appeals to the initial results by the HDP and other opposition parties. President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party has also had a few objections turned back. The initial mayoral results show the AKP lost control of Istanbul, the capital Ankara, and other key cities in a shock setback for Erdogan. The AKP submitted several objections in areas it faced losses and on Wednesday, Erdogan called for an annulment of the Istanbul elections over what his party has described as irregularities affecting the outcome. The YSK ruled that elected mayors in four districts and a sub-district in southeastern Turkey could not receive their mandate because they had been dismissed in a government decree as part of a crackdown following a 2016 failed coup attempt. The ruling means that mayors from the pro-Kurdish HDP will not be allowed to take their elected posts, and the mandate will instead be given to the runner-up candidates, which are AKP members. "The step taken by the YSK is nothing but a part of an organized political plot" by the AKP and its political allies, the HDP's Oluc said, adding it would drag Turkey into a "very big chaos." Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients YSU students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered in a casual setting to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. Azerbaijan extends Rune Vardanyan’s arrest by 5 months A court in Azerbaijan has extended the arrest of former Nagorno-Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan by five months. Armenia border residents dissatisfied with delimitation Residents Kirants are dissatisfied with the results of the delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. |