Top administrative court rejects main opposition CHP's referendum appeal


Turkey's highest administrative court rejected Tuesday the main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) request to appeal the result of the April 16 referendum on the constitutional reform package.

The Council of State ruled against the CHP's request to overturn the electoral board's decision, rejecting the appeal by a large majority.The court ruled that the appeal was not within its jurisdiction and said that it would release a written explanation at a later date.

The CHP is contesting the referendum results, alleging that there were a number of voting irregularities, centered on the decision of the Supreme Election Board (YSK) to accepted ballots that were not officially stamped.

International monitors have also noted irregularities in the voting process, which resulted in a narrow win for the "yes" camp.The government responded by saying that the monitors were biased, alleging that some of the monitors had taken part in "no" campaign events and that several others were previously seen attending events held by the PKK terrorist organization and its followers.

The YSK rejected the CHP's petition to annul the referendum results on Wednesday, ending speculation over the validity of the April 16 referendum results.Meanwhile, sources indicated that the CHP administration had failed to submit sufficient evidence and supporting documents required by the board to effectively prove that any illegal action took place during the referendum.

According to unofficial results, the "yes" campaign won with more than 51.4 percent of the vote, while the "no" camp garnered 48.6 percent. Overall voter turnout was recorded at 85.46 percent.