While the losing candidate of the ruling party AKP was awarded the mayor’s office in the province of Ban, the AKP won an "election victory" in Şırnak through massive fraud during and in the run-up to the elections on 31 March. In particular, the deployment of thousands of soldiers and police officers as mobile voters played an important role. Fierce protests against the fraud took place in the centre of Şırnak and in the district of Uludere. The people are calling for a renewal of elections in many places in the Kurdish region.

DEM deputy Newroz Uysal Aslan for Şırnak province spoke to ANF about the latest situation on the ground. Noting that the objections to the election in Uludere have been made since Sunday evening, she said: "Currently, the difference between the AKP and the DEM Party is 103 votes according to our count and 106 according to the official data. About 1300 soldiers voted here. As many as 1800 had been registered but some of the soldiers could not come. So, 1300 votes came from people from outside. There were masked military policemen with long guns at the entrances to almost all the polling stations, which is against the electoral law. All our objections have been rejected. The soldiers voted collectively, they were brought here collectively and taken back in the same way. There were violations at the polling stations throughout the day. The number of invalid votes is very high. At the moment, about 300 votes are invalid. We have applied for a recount of the votes. The number of envelopes and ballot papers recorded in the ballot box logs does not match the number of invalid ballot papers. There was a mobile ballot box for sick people. We are aware of suspicions and irregularities in relation to this ballot box. We have demanded the complete cancellation of this ballot box."

Newroz Uysal Aslan stated that the district electoral board did not meet immediately despite all the objections. “As a result, there is great anger among the population. We have lodged several objections. These relate to issues such as incorrect stamping, miscounting, missing or surplus ballot papers, the question of envelopes and the intervention of the security forces in a way that impaired electoral security and the free expression of the will of the people. The electoral commission did not consider our objections on election night. It said it would meet the next day and assess them. But that did not happen. We have submitted all our objections in writing. People have been on their feet since yesterday evening and there is great protest and great anger. The anger is great, both because of the 1300 soldiers and because of the 106-vote gap. This vote, which had fallen to 26 on the evening of the election, suddenly rose again to 106. The chairman of the election committee said he would convene the election committee and make a decision as to whether a recount should be carried out. But so far nothing has happened in this respect. Neither in part nor in general. If our application is rejected, we have the right to appeal to the related board and then to Ankara. After the election, we protested together with many people. While we were waiting for the count, more and more people came together. People know that they have won, and their will has been usurped, so they demand that this stop.”

The MP continued: “Unfortunately, we cannot claim that the decisions of the committee will be impartial and independent. If it were impartial and independent, it would have made decisions on our previous objections regarding irregular voting. However, we believe that we will get a result that reflects the will of the people. This is because the difference is very small and can be levelled out with appeals. We believe that the difference will be made up if the objections are accepted. The people here are also convinced of this and that is why we are here."

Defining the events as a problem for the whole country, Uysal continued: "We keep saying that this is not just a problem for one party. It is a question of the law, electoral security and democracy in Turkey. We have been saying for months that the AKP has been persistently working on irregular voting by non-local voters. It applied similar measures in 2019. People's protests against these fake voters, especially in Şırnak and other places, and their anger show the image of a people who have won and a state that has lost."

Uysal pointed out that the military personnel deployed for the election were not privates, but specialised sergeants or lieutenants. “In other words, they are professional soldiers, i.e. paid military personnel. The regime is now trying to manipulate the situation by pretending that the soldiers are being attacked by the population. This is being publicised on social media and was also reflected in Erdoğan's speech.”

MP Uysal concluded: “We know that the government is targeting certain regions in Kurdistan, this is both part of a war strategy to cause social and moral collapse and part of special psychological warfare. The places where these voters have been moved to are not just places where the numbers are close. It is also part of a special war operation of the state that aims to destroy the moral superiority and moral integrity of the Kurdish people. That is why Şırnak was targeted, just like the other places."