Istanbul: SI renews calls for respect for democracy

As the citizens of Istanbul prepare to go back to the polls this Sunday for a rerun of the mayoral elections originally held on 31 March, the Socialist International renews its calls for full respect for democracy and for the citizens’ voice to be heard.

The cancellation of the previous elections based on a technicality and the consequent annulment of the results by the Supreme Electoral Council under pressure from the governing AKP party and the head of state, was, in the eyes of most observers, unjustified and contributed, as the SI has previously stated, to an erosion of trust in the democratic process, setting a dangerous precedent.

Recent poll projections suggest that the candidate from the CHP, Ekrem İmamoğlu, would equally win this rerun of the vote. Democracy is crucial to social stability, as it is to guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of the people. The Socialist International stands firmly alongside all democrats in Turkey and stresses the importance of the world’s attention on Istanbul this weekend.