Baku, Azerbaijan, April 13
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has announced his readiness to resign, Trend reports via Turkish media.
Soylu said, if the opposition can prove that, allegedly, after the elections in Istanbul, the city police conducted raids in houses in order to find out who the voters cast ballots for, he will resign.
Soilu underlined that the Istanbul police have not conducted any such raids.
Earlier, the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) said that after the elections in Istanbul, the police conducted raids on residents' homes in several districts of the city.
The municipal election results in Istanbul were almost completely rigged, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier.
He noted that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) appealed to the Turkish Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) to identify the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, the Justice and Development Party presented facts of falsification of 11,000 votes in Istanbul in favour of the candidate of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Ekrem Imamoglu.
Earlier, Bayram Senocak, head of the Istanbul branch of the Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), stated that the ruling party has evidence of the election results in Istanbul being falsified in favor of candidate of the opposition Republican People's Party Ekrem Imamoglu.
Imamoglu gained 4.159 million votes, while Yildirim got 4.131 million votes in Istanbul.
The coalition of the ruling party and the Nationalist Movement Party gained 51.67 percent of votes in the municipal elections throughout the country.
Following the elections, candidate of the Republican People’s Party Mansur Yavas became mayor of Ankara.
Thirteen political parties took part in the municipal elections held March 31. These included the Felicity Party (SP), the Independent Turkey Party (Bağımsız Türkiye Partisi), the Communist Party of Turkey (Türkiye Komünist Partisi), the Patriotic Party (Vatan Partisi), the Great Unity Party (Büyük Birlik Partisi), Free Cause Party (Hür Dava Partisi), Republican People’s Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi), Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi), Democratic Party (Demokrat Parti), Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi), Iyi Party (İYİ Parti), Peoples’ Democratic Party (Halkların Demokratik Partisi) and Democratic Left Party (Demokratik Sol Parti).
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