Angry DEM members: In Van on April 2, 2024, they protest against the election authority's decision to appoint the runner-up as mayor.
Image: Arif Aslan/VOA
After nationwide protests, the election winner in the Turkish city of Van is now supposed to be mayor after all. The case says a lot about the state of the rule of law in Turkey.
EInitially there were only a few cities in eastern Turkey where demonstrations took place against the decision of the electoral authorities in Van. But on Wednesday new cities were added. There were protests, riots, arrests, clashes with the police. In the evening, the electoral authorities finally pulled the ripcord. She reversed the controversial decision, according to which the winner of the election should not be appointed mayor of Van, but the runner-up.
The election winner was Abdullah Zeydan from the Kurdish DEM party, who won the vote on Sunday with 55 percent of the vote. The candidate from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling party came in far behind in second place with 27 percent. He should receive the certificate of appointment.