A Turkish decision to scrap the result of a vote for Istanbul’s mayor lost by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s candidate is neither transparent nor comprehensible, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.
Turkish voters alone must decide on the mayor’s office, the German foreign minister said in a statement, adding that basic democratic principles and transparent election rules are paramount.
“The decision of the High Election Board to annul the local election in Istanbul and order a re-run is in our view not transparent and not comprehensible,” Reuters cited Maas as saying.
Earlier, the Turkish Supreme Election Council's decision to re-run elections in Istanbul was criticized in the European Union.
