ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The 212 polling station observers appointed by the Turkish High Electoral Commission in the Kurdish town of Gavar in Culamerg Province, southeastern Turkey, for Sunday’s referendum are all from the ruling Justice Development Party (AKP), confirmed a local official.
Bahadin Karam Oglu, a local official in the city of Gavar, also known as Yuksekova, said only AKP observers have been appointed to oversee the polling stations as the country’s population will cast their ballots tomorrow.
All the other parties are excluded from monitoring the voting process in the area, he said.
He urged the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) to oversee the polling stations themselves.
As many as 59,341 registered voters are expected to cast their ballots tomorrow in Gavar.
It is expected the “No” option will prevail in the city, rejecting the amendments to the Turkish constitution that would see power concentrated in the hands of the president.
Gavar was the site of heavy armed conflict between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in mid-2016, after the Turkish army imposed a 76-day curfew in March 2016. More than 5,000 civilian homes were destroyed during the army’s operations.
The town of Gavar is located at the junction where Turkey borders Iran and the Kurdistan Region.
More than 55 million Turkish citizens will vote Sunday in the referendum on proposed constitutional changes that include giving wide-ranging executive powers to the president.
Voting will take place between 7 am and 4 pm in Turkey's eastern provinces. For the rest of the country, the ballot boxes will be open between 8 am and 5 pm as the sun rises and sets earlier in the eastern part of the country, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.
Bahadin Karam Oglu, a local official in the city of Gavar, also known as Yuksekova, said only AKP observers have been appointed to oversee the polling stations as the country’s population will cast their ballots tomorrow.
All the other parties are excluded from monitoring the voting process in the area, he said.
He urged the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) to oversee the polling stations themselves.
As many as 59,341 registered voters are expected to cast their ballots tomorrow in Gavar.
It is expected the “No” option will prevail in the city, rejecting the amendments to the Turkish constitution that would see power concentrated in the hands of the president.
Gavar was the site of heavy armed conflict between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in mid-2016, after the Turkish army imposed a 76-day curfew in March 2016. More than 5,000 civilian homes were destroyed during the army’s operations.
The town of Gavar is located at the junction where Turkey borders Iran and the Kurdistan Region.
More than 55 million Turkish citizens will vote Sunday in the referendum on proposed constitutional changes that include giving wide-ranging executive powers to the president.
Voting will take place between 7 am and 4 pm in Turkey's eastern provinces. For the rest of the country, the ballot boxes will be open between 8 am and 5 pm as the sun rises and sets earlier in the eastern part of the country, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.
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