The counting of the votes of Türkiye’s presidential and parliamentary elections is proceeding in a transparent manner, Ömer Çelik, the spokesperson for Türkiye's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), said on Sunday.
“We showed how a democratic struggle is fought. The ballot box represents honor in politics. The counting is progressing with transparency,” he said in southern Adana province.
Saying that all kinds of precautions have been taken for the elections, Çelik added that people should wait for the results.
Çelik’s remarks came after Deputy Chair Faik Öztrak of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) accused Anadolu Agency (AA), which is publishing the vote statistics, of “manipulation.”
In a later statement, Çelik criticized Istanbul and Ankara Mayors Ekrem Imamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş for intentionally referring to CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as the 13th President of Türkiye in their speeches before the vote count ended.
Çelik noted that they lack respect for the national will and the legal process of elections.
"Votes are still being counted and no official statement has been made on the results yet, but they attack Anadolu Agency (AA) and then go ahead to proclaim election results," he told reporters, adding that this is a dictatory mindset and lacks respect for the will of the people.
Çelik continued by saying that official data suggests President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is leading in the elections but the AK Party does not make statements about it as they think it is disrespectful to the national will because all ballots have not been counted yet.
