Turkish gov’t and election board have staged a coup: CHP head

ANKARA

The government and the Supreme Board and Elections (YSK) have together “staged a coup against the national will,” main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said, adding that his party “does not recognize” the result of the referendum shifting Turkey to an executive presidential system. 

“On April 16, the government and the YSK staged a coup against the national will in cooperation. We will hold every infraction of rules to account. We will take up every single vote,” Kılıçdaroğlu posted on his official Twitter account on April 18. 

Criticizing the YSK’s last-minute decision to deem unsealed ballot papers as valid at the start of the vote-counting process, the CHP head said the decision “proves that the ‘No’ side won the vote.”

“We do not and will not recognize this election, which will be written in history as the ‘unsealed election.’ The national will should be respected and the referendum should be repeated,” Kılıçdaroğlu posted. 

“We will not stop until justice is served,” he vowed.