Party paraphernalia is not election-related

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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The party posters found in the basement of the Tunceli governor’s office did not violate the Electoral Law because the party paraphernalia was left over from previous elections, a preliminary report from the prosecutor’s office has shown.

It was reported Tuesday that police found several flags, pamphlets and posters belonging to the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in a basement located beneath a service building next to the governor’s office.

The matter came to a head when pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, members from the municipal assembly called for charges to be pressed yesterday morning at an assembly meeting and were supported by the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP.

Turkish law prohibits state servants from participating in election campaigning in any capacity. Governors, in charge of security, are appointed as state servants, while mayors, in charge of services, are elected.

Municipal assembly members from the DTP took photos of the contents of the depot and filed a complaint at the local prosecutor’s office. Police were then sent to the building with a search warrant, which was conducted under the supervision of the prosecutor.

According to the Anatolia news agency, the prosecutor’s report argued that municipal workers had collected the party flags by mistake after a visit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the province late last year.The Anatolia news agency reported that the prosecutor’s inquiry into the seven posters found in the building was continuing.

Municipal Assembly member Özgür Söylemez, from the DTP, claimed the many AKP pamphlets and flags he saw in that morning had been removed before the police search later in the day, reported Doğan news agency.

The governor, Mustafa Yaman, has come under serious pressure from the opposition and the Supreme Election Board, or YSK, in recent months for his failure to stop state aid distribution, seen as an effort initiated by Yaman.

Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım said yesterday that the governor had told him there were no party flags found in the governor’s office. "The governor told me the inquiry was about an employee.

In a statement, the governor’s office dismissed the reports as provocations and untrue.