Turkey is set for a revote in the aftermath of the hotly contested mayoral elections in Istanbul.
The country’s Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) upheld President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) petition to annul the March 31 result, which ended the AKP’s 25 years of rule.
A revote threatens to plunge the country into political and economic chaos.
Turkey’s state news agency reported the new vote would be held June 23. The YSK has not published the reasons for its decision. However, the 11 judges voted 7-to-4 to annul the local Istanbul vote.
“We are thirsty for democracy. We are young. No one can stop what the people want. We will never give up,” Ekrem Imamoglu, winner of the Istanbul mayoral election, declared at a rally in response to his victory being annulled.
Thousands of Imamoglu’s supporters protested through the night in the streets of Istanbul, while others banged pots and pans to signal their anger.
