TURKEY: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS CHARGES OF ELECTION FRAUD BY THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S PARTY

Record ID: 648082

  • Title: TURKEY: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS CHARGES OF ELECTION FRAUD BY THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S PARTY
  • Date: 29th September 2003
  • Summary: (W5) ANKARA, TURKEY (SEPTEMBER 29, 2003) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV LEGAL PERSONNEL WALKING INSIDE THE COURT HOUSE 0.06 2. SLV MEDIA IN CORRIDOR 0.12 3. WIDE/ PAN OF JUDGES SEATED IN COURT 0.29 4. VARIOUS OF COURT FILES 0.32 4. VARIOUS OF ATTORNEYS 0.37 5. WIDE OF PEOPLE LEAVING COURT HOUSE 0.43 6. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) DEMOCRATIC PEOPLES PARTY (DEHAP) LAWYER, GUVEN OZATA SAYING: "It is not the right decision of appeal. It is not the right decision" 0.50 7. VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF COURT (2 SHOTS) 1.02 8. VARIOUS ,INTERIOR OF PROFESSOR SUHEYL BATUM SEATED AT DESK (3 SHOTS) 1.21 9. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) LEGAL COMMENTATOR, PROFESSOR SUHEYL BATUM SAYING: "There is a legal question here which is whether to cancel the whole elections or not. For me there is no need to cancel all elections, just the votes of that party, recasting the votes and reforming the parliament with that. And the High Election Board will do this." 1.43 (W5) ANKARA, TURKEY (FILE, NOVEMBER 3, 2002) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) 10. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE VOTING IN ELECTIONS (3 SHOTS) 2.04 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 14th October 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ANKARA, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Reuters ID: LVAZFTNEMF2MFEU7K3P7X6DA10N
  • Story Text: A top Turkish court raises the prospect of an early
    general election by upholding fraud charges against the
    Democratic People's Party, a minor political party accused
    of forgery in the last election.



    The Supreme Court in the Turkish capital Ankara
    rejected an appeal Monday (September 29) by the pro-Kurdish
    Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) against charges of
    forgery in the last poll in November 2002.

    The official election board (YSK) must now decide
    whether to rule DEHAP's votes invalid, and could award its
    parliamentary seats to an opposition party.

    If it does so, the ruling Justice and Development
    Party (AKP), which has a large parliamentary majority, has
    said it might call fresh polls for as early as next April.

    An early election could disrupt the implementation of a
    $16 billion IMF crisis rescue pact and the political
    reforms needed to secure membership talks with the European
    Union. EU candidate Turkey can ill afford another general
    election as it works its way out of a financial crisis that
    sparked the country's worst economic slump since World War
    Two.

    The Supreme Court ruled unanimously to uphold the
    decision of a lower court imprisoning four senior DEHAP
    officials for forging documents ahead of the November 2002
    general election, court official Mustafa Aydin told
    reporters in Ankara.

    Following the courts ruling, DEHAP party lawyer, Guven
    Ozata told journalists he disagreed with the decision:
    "It is not the right decision of appeal. It is not
    the right decision," he said.

    DEHAP, which enjoys wide support in Turkey's mainly
    Kurdish southeast, failed to cross the 10 percent barrier
    required to win seats in Turkey's 550-seat parliament in
    the election.

    But another party which also fell short of that
    threshold, the centre-right True Path (DYP), argues that
    without DEHAP's participation it could have entered
    parliament, hence altering the balance of power.

    "There is a legal question here which is whether to
    cancel the whole elections or not. For me there is no need
    to cancel all elections, just the votes of that party,
    recasting the votes and reforming the parliament with that.

    And the High Election Board will do this," said Legal
    commentator Professor Suheyl Batum.

    The election board may now award around 60 seats to DYP,
    stripping Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and
    Development Party (AKP) of much of the large legislative
    majority that allows it to push through political reforms.

    The government says it is confident it can increase the
    35 percent of the vote it gained in November if it asks
    parliament to approve early polls.

    AKP, a newly formed group distrusted by Turkey's
    secular establishment because of its Islamist roots, swept
    to power last November for a five-year term pledging jobs
    and prosperity after a financial crisis battered Turkey's
    economy in February 2001.



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