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FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, April 8, 2019. Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the West was putting pressure on the Turkish lira, inflation and interest rates, but that these games would be thwarted after a re-run of Istanbuls mayoral election in June.

Ahead of the last election, the West tried to corner us by applying pressure on the currency, interest rates and inflation, Erdogan said on Saturday in a televised question and answer session with university students in Istanbul.

All these games will be thwarted once we get over the election, he said, after Turkeys election board ruled on a re-run of Marchs election, which was won by the main opposition candidate in a shock loss for Erdogans party.

Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Daniel Wallis

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Erdogan: West's economic manipulation will be thwarted after ...

ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Ekrem Imamoglu caused a political earthquake in recent local elections in Turkey when he won the Istanbul mayorship, ending 25 years of domination by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, in a controversial move, Turkey's election board annulled the March vote and ordered a re-run. Now the ousted mayor is at the center of a political storm.

Imamoglu, of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), claims his short tenure was enough to uncover gross overspending and waste by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), ammunition that he is set to use in the June 23 re-vote.

During his 19 days in office, Imamoglu toured the city and held mass rallies, where he repeated his pledge to bridge Turkey's deep political divide and bring about good governance.

The rallies were in many ways preparing for another election, with the widely held expectation Erdogan's ruling AKP would not accept the loss of Turkey's most important city, by a mere 13,000 votes.

This month the High Electoral Board made up of mainly Erdogan appointees upheld the AKP's claims of fraud and irregularities. The move drew national and international condemnation.

"This is a blow that will be written in history as a dark stain, this is very clear," said Imamoglu about the annulling of his victory.

"That's why I am very sad," he added, "it is not a sadness directed towards myself; this is sadness for wider society. This is a sadness I feel for seeing such a blow to Turkey's democracy. However, correcting this wrong is down to us. And that's the fight we are now giving."

Imamoglu says his determination to win Istanbul again is buoyed by what he discovered during his short tenure in office.

"Waste!" he said, "the amount of waste that I saw at the stanbul metropolitan municipality! There is a need for big savings in expenditure."

Istanbul accounts for around a quarter of Turkey's population and a third of country's economy, making it Turkey's most important political prize.

"Istanbul presents so many patronage opportunities," said international relations professor Soli Ozel of Istanbul's Kadir Has University. "It greases the wheels of politics of those who control it, and the AKP has truly mastered."

Istanbul based pro-government media, most belonging to business conglomerates with close ties to Erdogan, were in the forefront of lobbying for the Istanbul vote to be overturned.

Protests continue

Analysts say the annulling of the vote will damage Erdogan's political legitimacy that is built on electoral success.

Istanbul's streets continue to reverberate to the sound of nighttime protests over the annulling of the vote, as momentum builds for next month's re-vote, touted as one of the country's most important.

"It is obvious that this vote is not only about Istanbul," said Imamoglu. "This is both a local election and a fight for democracy. That's why our campaign will grow much bigger, and hundred thousands of people will participate."

Imamoglu claims tens of thousands of volunteers have already signed up for the election campaign. The CHP's Istanbul success, coupled with last year's unexpectedly competitive presidential challenge, is seen as re-energizing the opposition party.

"Winning is an acquired habit the more you do it, the better you get at it, sort of muscle memory," said analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners. "If they win again (Istanbul re-vote), they will have the wind behind them."

In Imamoglu, the CHP believes they have found a winner, who can finally challenge the AKP, after nearly two decades of defeat.

"Coming out of a very small borough of Istanbul and mounting a very effective election campaign to the point of drawing pro-AKP voters to at least listen to him is impressive," said Yesilada. "And the fact he has retained rather effective [public relations] agencies also attests to his skills."

Mayor of Istanbul's Beylikduzu district, a distant suburb, Imamoglu was largely a political unknown, before being the surprise choice as candidate for city mayor.

But his background is seen to give him advantages. Imamoglu is from the Black Sea region, whose people make up the largest constituency of Istanbul. He also has conservative roots, that analysts say helps to allay concerns of religious AKP voters.

In an image usually associated with Erdogan, Imamoglu routinely breaks fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan with Istanbul families. He appears to cross the divide between the secular and pious effortlessly. Until now Erdogan has successfully portrayed the pro-secular CHP, as "elitist and anti-religious."

Rather than engaging in the politics of polarization, Imamoglu says he's seeking to offer a new kind of politics in the June vote.

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Erdogan Fights to Keep Control of Istanbul

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan signaled on Saturday he backs a re-run of mayoral elections in Istanbul which resulted in a narrow victory for the main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) for the first time in 25 years.

FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia April 8, 2019. Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Erdogans ruling AK Party (AKP), which also lost control of the capital Ankara in the March 31 local elections, has already filed an appeal to Turkeys High Election Board (YSK) to annul and re-run the election in Istanbul due to what it says were irregularities.

The YSK is expected to rule on the AKP challenge on Monday, but it has ordered district electoral officials in Istanbul to investigate their respective ballot box officials in its interim rulings.

Prosecutors on Thursday launched probes into allegations of irregularities in Istanbul and summoned more than 100 polling station officials for questioning as suspects, in a move the opposition CHP said would not alter the results of the vote.

Speaking to Turkish businesspeople in Istanbul, Erdogan said the Istanbul elections were marred by irregularities and called on the YSK to make a decision that would eliminate controversies and clear its name.

My people tell me the elections should be renewed. I have not spoken until now, Ive been silent. But everyone else has spoken. Enough already, Erdogan said.

There is a controversy here, its clear. There is an irregularity here, thats clear too. Lets go to the people and see what they say and whatever the outcome, we will accept it.

Erdogan had accused the opposition of supporting terrorism and labeled the local election a matter of survival for Turkey during his campaign, which was held amid growing disenchantment among voters over economic woes.

CHP spokesman Faik Oztrak told reporters later on Saturday that it was time for Erdogan and his AKP to accept defeat.

The real matter of survival here is those who put aside the peoples concerns about food prices, wages and focus instead on their own benefits, Oztrak told a news conference in Ankara.

There is only one thing that can clear the YSK. That is for it to act in line with its regulations and previous rulings.

The uncertainty over the results in Istanbul, which accounts for around a third of the countrys economy, has kept financial markets on edge, as Turkey tries to recover from a currency crisis that saw the lira lose more than 30 percent of its value last year.

On Friday, CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said the Istanbul elections had become a test of democracy. He accused the AKP of exerting political pressure on the YSK to order a re-run of the vote.

Erdogan said his party was only exercising its legal rights.

Claiming that Tayyip Erdogan is trying to steal an election he has no right to is the biggest insult, Erdogan said. We are not hurling threats, were just waiting.

While the CHPs Ekrem Imamoglu took office as Istanbuls new mayor last month, the AKP won 25 of the citys 39 districts and the majority of seats in the municipal council. It has said that this proved irregularities had taken place.

Speaking to his supporters on Saturday, Imamoglu said the AKP appeals were unreasonable.

So the 25 districts are all clean, the municipal council votes are perfect, but when it comes to the mayorship, there is an irregularity. We can only laugh at this, Imamoglu said.

Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Gareth Jones and Ros Russell

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Erdogan signals he backs re-run of contested Istanbul vote ...

Ankara, Turkey Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted Tuesday that re-running the Istanbul mayoral vote that was won by the opposition will only strengthen democracy, while critics called the decision an "outrageous" move to eliminate dissent against his government.

Ruling in favor of Erdogan's governing party, Turkey's top electoral body on Monday annulled the results of the March 31 vote in Istanbul, which opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu narrowly won, and scheduled a re-run for June 23.

The loss of Istanbul and the capital of Ankara in Turkey's local elections were sharp blows to Erdogan and his conservative, Islamic-based Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

AKP had challenged the results of the vote, claiming it was marred by irregularities. Critics accuse the AKP of trying to cling to power in Istanbul, a city of 15 million people that is Turkey's cultural and commercial hub, and of exerting heavy pressure on the country's electoral body to cancel the outcome of the March 31 vote.

The controversial decision has increased concerns over democracy and the rule of law in Turkey, a NATO member that is still formally a candidate to join the European Union. Turkey is also a key Western ally in the fight against terrorism and in stemming the flow of refugees to Europe.

"The will of the people has been trampled on," said Meral Aksener, leader of a nationalist party in Turkey that had backed Imamoglu.

The move is raising questions about whether Erdogan, who has consolidated power throughout his 16-year rule and is increasingly accused of authoritarianism, would ever accept any electoral defeat or relinquish power.

"This outrageous decision highlights how Erdogan's Turkey is drifting toward a dictatorship," Guy Verhofstadt, a European Parliament lawmaker and the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, said on Twitter. "Under such leadership, accession talks are impossible."

Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, described the decision as a "seismic event in Turkish history."

"Turkey has been holding free and fair elections since the 1950s," he told The Associated Press. "Never before has a party refused to accept the outcome of the election... This goes against 70 years of accepted tradition."

(Erdogan) is saying 'let's vote until the governing party wins," he added.

Opposition newspaper Birgun branded the decision a "coup" and argued that justice in Turkey had "been suspended."

The redo of the Istanbul vote also threatens to further de-stabilize the Turkish economy, which has entered a recession. The Turkish lira crashed spectacularly last summer over investor concerns about Erdogan's policies. It has been sliding again in recent weeks and on Tuesday it hit its lowest level since October.

Europe's top human rights and democracy watchdog expressed concerns about reports of pressure exerted by Erdogan's government on the electoral body.

"We face the repeat elections in Istanbul with great concern and urge Turkish authorities to do their utmost to restore the safeguards of the electoral process," said Anders Knape, the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.

Delivering a speech in Parliament on Tuesday, Erdogan reiterated that the vote was sullied by irregularities "we could not ignore." He rejected opposition accusations that his party was trying to win back a key election that it had lost.

He said violations included the alleged improper entering of election data and the fact that thousands of officials overseeing the vote at ballot stations were bankers or teachers and not civil servants, as required by law.

"We see this decision as an important step in strengthening our democracy, which will enable the removal of the shadow cast over the Istanbul election," Erdogan said.

The opposition, however, has complained about irregularities at Turkish elections in the past years, but their objections have been ignored.

Imamoglu arrived in Ankara on Tuesday for emergency talks with senior members of the opposition Republican Peoples' Party, or CHP. Despite media reports about a possible boycott of the repeated vote in Istanbul, CHP made clear that Imamoglu would run again.

"We extend our hand to all our citizens," the party said at the end of the meeting. "We wholeheartedly believe that this extended hand will be held strong on 23 June, that it will strengthen our democratic struggle and that we will achieve a greater victory than on March 31."

On the other side, Erdogan told reporters that former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim would again run as the ruling party's candidate for mayor. On Tuesday, the Interior Ministry appointed Istanbul's governor Ali Yerlikaya as acting mayor of the city. The Istanbul municipality immediately deleted all tweets that were posted by Imamoglu during his 20 days in office as mayor.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls for vote redo in ...

Turkey ordered a re-run of mayoral elections in Istanbul, overturning a rare defeat for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and sending the lira plummeting as concerns grew over what critics say is the latest assault on the rule of law.

Erdogans AK Party had demanded the revote, and the High Election Board late Monday accepted its allegations that the March 31 balloting was tainted by irregularities in the vote count and the appointment of ineligible people as ballot officials. Erdogans party had lost the initial election in Turkeys largest city and commercial center by a narrow margin to Turkeys main opposition group, in perhaps his worst ballot-box setback during 16 years in power.

The new election will be held June 23, the board decided after voting 7-4 for another poll. Stocks erased this years gains.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu addresses supporters on May 6

Photographer: Burak Kara/Getty Images

The board came under heavy public pressure from Erdogan, whos been criticized by Turkeys Western allies and domestic opponents for undermining democracy by riding roughshod over independent institutions while amassing unprecedented powers.

The decision is also troubling for investors in Turkeys $750 billion economy. Theyve already pulled money out in the past year as the country slumped into recession, and now they face an extended period of political turmoil.

This is a dirty game about the refusal of those who are elected to power to not leave after an election, said Faik Oztrak, a deputy chairman of the main opposition party, CHP. This is a coup against the last bastion of legitimacy of democracy, the ballot box.

European Union foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini urged Turkeys government to invite international observers to monitor the revote. Ensuring a free, fair and transparent election process is essential to any democracy and is at the heart of the European Unions relations with Turkey, Mogherini said.

The lira on Monday extended declines on Tuesday morning to almost 2 percent and was trading at 6.1567 per dollar as of 9:48 a.m. in Istanbul. The benchmark XU100 stock index was down 2 percent.

Were in a political twilight zone, where the economy has fallen to the side, said Anthony Skinner, Middle East and North Africa director at risk analyst Verisk Maplecroft. The repeat vote prolongs the electoral cycle, exacerbates negative economic conditions and kicks the can of reform -- to the extent that it exists -- further down the road.

Police guard the High Election Board building in Ankara on May 6.

Photographer: Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images

The lira has been among the worlds worst performers over the past year. Its most dramatic crash came last August, triggered in part by a standoff with the U.S. over an American pastor who was held in Turkey on terrorism charges. The currency resumed its decline after the local elections as Erdogan challenged the result.

Further losses for the lira could drive inflation -- already running at nearly four times the official target -- even higher. It may also hurt the ability of Turkish companies to service debt. They borrowed heavily in dollars and euros, and have been struggling to make payments since last years currency crash.

The election board canceled the mandate of the CHPs victorious candidate in March, Ekrem Imamoglu, who had assumed office as Istanbul mayor almost three weeks ago. An interim mayor will replace him.

Addressing thousands of supporters in Istanbul late Monday, Imamoglu denounced the election boards decision and said he would try in the election rerun to win over voters who had originally cast ballots for the AKP or other parties.

In the original tally, Imamoglu had defeated the AK Partys Binali Yildirim, a former prime minister and close Erdogan ally, by a margin of about 14,000 votes in a city with more than 10 million voters. Yildirim said he, too, will run again.

In the weeks after the election, Erdogans approach fluctuated. At times he appeared to concede that Istanbul was lost. But he was also gradually turning up the heat on the election board.

His most explicit call for a new vote came this past weekend, when he said election laws had clearly been violated because private-sector employees were enlisted as ballot officials instead of civil servants.

Istanbuls chief prosecutor bolstered the presidents argument, alleging that dozens of officials involved in administering the vote had links to U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen. Turkey accuses Gulen of masterminding a failed coup attempt against Erdogan almost three years ago, and has jailed or fired tens of thousands of officials for alleged ties to the cleric, who was once an Erdogan ally.

The opposition dismissed the allegations, and accused Erdogans government of looking for any excuse to manipulate the vote.

The highly contentious decision to annul the election demonstrates that that there is not a single institution in Turkey that President Tayyip Erdogan does not dominate and control, said Wolfango Piccoli, co-president of Teneo Intelligence in London. By forcing a rerun, Erdogan has also taken a major risk as elections have been key for the AKP to claim a sense of democratic legitimacy since it first came into power in 2002.

With assistance by Cagan Koc

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