Supreme Election Board

The Council of State rejected an appeal by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on April 25 to repeal a Supreme Election Board (YSK) decision to change the legal criteria of the validity of unsealed ballots on April 16, the date of the referendum approving a shift to an executive presidential system. 

Turkey's Council of State rejected an appeal by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on April 25 to repeal a Supreme Election Board (YSK) decision to change the legal criteria of the validity of unsealed ballots on April 16 referendum day. 

Details to come...

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has said that Turkey's Constitutional Court and the Council of State have no option but to reject the main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) appeal to annul the Supreme Election Board's (YSK) decision that changed the legal criteria of the validity of unsealed ballots on referendum day.

"I know what the government is trying to do," said Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the social democratic Republican People's Party (CHP), on the phone on April 21. Referring to President Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti), he said they were "trying to deter us from appealing to the courts and protecting the democratic rights of the people regarding the Apri

Following the Supreme Election Board's (YSK) decision that rendered the referendum results controversial, it seems that we will all become experts on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Suspicion of irregularities in the April 16 referendum vote have damaged Turkey's election security and reliability, said Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) Chair Erol Bilecik, adding that measures need to be immediately taken to ensure judicial independence and neutrality.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has appealed to the Council of State to repeal the Supreme Election Board's (YSK) decision that changed the legal criteria of the validity of unsealed ballots on referendum day.

The Turkish referendum on the presidency is over but both the legal and the political debates are continuing, despite the Supreme Election Board's (YSK) rejection of the appeals by the opposition parties over the claims of fraud in the vote count.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump next month, hoping for stronger ties with the United States after being “deceived” by ex-President Barack Obama.

The debate over the April 16 constitutional referendum continues to rumble, after the government praised the Supreme Election Board's (YSK) decision to reject all appeals against the result of the vote but the opposition vowed to continue the struggle to annul the outcome based on numerous irregularities.