Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç makes statement on 'election security'

Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç cast his vote in the Amasra district of Bartın for the Local Administration General Elections.

Speaking to members of the press after casting his vote, Tunç said, "Our candidates for metropolitan, provincial, district, and town mayoralties, as well as our candidates for neighborhood headmen (muhtars), councils of elders, provincial general assemblies, and municipal councils, have spent days campaigning. Each of them has worked hard to be elected, and today the ballot box has been placed before our nation. Our nation will make its choice, and our nation's choice is something we all respect. This is the requirement of democracy."

Stating that elections in Turkey are an example to the world, Tunç noted that there is no concern regarding the transparency and security of the election.

Tunç continued his remarks as follows:

"Counting and tallying procedures are carried out in the presence of our independent judicial members, and representatives of all political parties participate in these. Furthermore, voter lists have already been published transparently on the YSK (Supreme Election Council) website. Everyone even knows where their neighbor will vote. They can transparently see who they will be voting with at their own ballot box. After the election, those minutes and consolidation records are also transparently presented to the entire country and the public on the YSK website, and wet-signed minutes are provided to the representatives of all political parties.

Therefore, there is no concern in Turkey regarding the transparency or security of the election. In fact, Turkey's elections are among the most exemplary in the world and are held with the highest turnout. To date, they have been held with a turnout of over 85 percent. We believe it will be the same today; we do not see such high participation in elections anywhere else in the world."

Minister Tunç said, "Turkey is a democracy that is an example to the world. Therefore, the Turkish people protect their country and democracy; the nation protects the national will. Today, we are witnessing the best example of this."