ANKARA // Police yesterday used water cannons to break up a protest by hundreds of people who had gathered outside Turkey’s Supreme Election Council building in support of the main opposition party, which is challenging local election results in the capital Ankara.
The candidate of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) appears to have narrowly lost to the ruling AKP party of the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It claims discrepancies between votes registered with the election board and the party’s own ballot counts.
Hundreds of people shouted anti-government slogans and denounced alleged fraud before riot police moved in. Supporters of other political parties had joined the protest in a show of solidarity.
Mr Erdogan’s party swept Sunday’s elections, winning about 45 per cent of the votes, according to unofficial results. The AKP candidate for Ankara – the incumbent mayor – received 44.7 per cent while the opposition secured 43.8 per cent.
The opposition candidate for Istanbul, also alleging irregularities, has called for a recount there too, although the AKP won by a large margin.
“We will appeal today at the Supreme Electoral Board over hundreds of ballot boxes in Ankara,” said Aykan Erdemir, a lawmaker from the Republican People’s Party. “More than 1,000 volunteers have been working for over 48 hours to check data at the party headquarters. We have evidence of irregularities.”
Ankara was purpose-built in Turkey’s Anatolian interior as the national capital by the secular founding father of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
According to provisional official results, the AKP mayor, Melik Gokcek, who has held the post for two decades, won the city by a wafer-thin margin of 44.79 per cent against 43.77 per cent for Mansur Yavas, a CHP candidate.
Allegations of election fraud have circulated on social media, including a photo which purportedly shows ballots in a rubbish heap, and there have been complaints over electricity blackouts in some areas during the evening vote-count.
Mr Yavas wrote on his Twitter account on Monday that a recount “will reveal the truth”.
Sadi Guven, the president of the Supreme Electoral Board, said: “This is a legal process. We will wait and see. Citizens and political parties should remain calm.”
Taner Yildiz, the energy minister, has blamed other power outages in part of Turkey on Sunday on weather conditions and said “those who lost the elections should not use power cuts as an excuse for their defeat”.
In the case of Ankara, where in some areas ballots were counted by candlelight, the minister also blamed a cat that had slipped into a power distribution unit and presumably was electrocuted when it caused a short circuit.
* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
SPECS
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
'HIJRAH%3A%20IN%20THE%20FOOTSTEPS%20OF%20THE%20PROPHET'
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
FA%20Cup%20semi-final%20draw
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The Bloomberg Billionaire Index in full
1 Jeff Bezos $140 billion
2 Bill Gates $98.3 billion
3 Bernard Arnault $83.1 billion
4 Warren Buffett $83 billion
5 Amancio Ortega $67.9 billion
6 Mark Zuckerberg $67.3 billion
7 Larry Page $56.8 billion
8 Larry Ellison $56.1 billion
9 Sergey Brin $55.2 billion
10 Carlos Slim $55.2 billion
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
Company%20Profile
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57%20Seconds
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