{"id":45415,"date":"2010-09-13T12:21:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-13T12:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.epress.am\/2010\/09\/13\/clashes-mar-turkish-referendum-vote-in-several-provinces\/"},"modified":"2010-09-13T12:21:00","modified_gmt":"2010-09-13T12:21:00","slug":"clashes-mar-turkish-referendum-vote-in-several-provinces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/2010\/09\/13\/clashes-mar-turkish-referendum-vote-in-several-provinces.html","title":{"rendered":"Clashes Mar Turkish Referendum Vote in Several Provinces"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clashes erupted Sunday between groups of citizens and police around Turkey as the nation voted on a constitutional amendment package and dozens of people were detained on suspicion of preventing voters from heading to the polls, reports Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Groups boycotting the vote clashed with police in the southern provinces of Mersin and Adana, as well as in Istanbul.<\/p>\n

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A group of people wearing masks burned a car and a bus in front of a school in Mersin to keep people from voting, causing police to intervene, news agencies reported.<\/p>\n

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Another group that came to the school to vote argued with a separate faction in front of the local pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, building, the Anatolia news agency reported. The disagreement turned into a fight, again drawing police intervention. Ten people were detained as a result of the altercation.<\/p>\n

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Strict security measures were put in place throughout the country\u2019s eastern and southeastern provinces for the poll.<\/p>\n

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The turnout for the referendum in eastern Anatolia remained low, as the majority of citizens who went to the polls said yes to the constitutional amendment package.<\/p>\n

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In the eastern provinces of Batman, Hakkari and \u015e\u0131<\/span>rnak, the boycott call was heavily heeded, the Do\u011f<\/span>an news agency reported. Widespread boycotts of the vote were also observed in A\u011f<\/span>r\u0131<\/span>, Ardahan, Diyarbak\u0131<\/span>r, I\u011f<\/span>d\u0131<\/span>r, Kars, Mu\u015f<\/span> and Van, though not as significantly so in Bitlis, Mardin and Tunceli.<\/p>\n

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Thirty people were detained in Hakkari on allegations of obstructing people from voting, while 20 were taken into custody for similar alleged offenses in Van.<\/p>\n

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In \u015e\u0131<\/span>rnak, a group of temporary village guards and another group clashed over voting, resulting in injuries to eight people, the Anatolia news agency reported. Abit \u0130<\/span>ke, the BDP\u2019s \u015e\u0131<\/span>rnak head, accused the guards of provoking the event and said gendarmerie forces watched and did nothing during the fight, the Do\u011f<\/span>an news agency reported.<\/p>\n

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The outlawed Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party, or PKK, attacked a car that was transporting votes that were to be counted at the district election board in Hakkari with guns and rocket launchers, Do\u011f<\/span>an news agency reported. One soldier was injured in the attack.<\/p>\n

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In nearby \u015e<\/span>anl\u0131<\/span>urfa, BDP deputy \u0130<\/span>brahim Binici became involved in an argument with a polling clerk over allegations that some people were voting in others\u2019 places. The argument escalated into a fight and the ballot box was thrown out a window, causing it\u00a0to split apart.<\/p>\n

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The pro-Kurdish news agency F\u0131<\/span>rat News meanwhile reported that more than 140 people in several provinces were detained over the past three days.<\/p>\n

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\u00c7<\/span>i\u011f<\/span>dem K\u0131<\/span>l\u0131\u00e7<\/span>g\u00fc<\/span>n U\u00e7<\/span>ar, the head of\u00a0the BDP\u2019s Istanbul office, told the H\u00fc<\/span>rriyet that dozens of party members were detained \u201cfor unexplained reasons\u201d and that there were problems with party observers.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe party observers [are allowed to] stand by the ballot box all day long and observe,\u201d U\u00e7<\/span>ar said. \u201cBut the head polling clerk told our friends they could only come when the ballot boxes are opened and observe.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Arguments over the issue resulted in a number of detentions, according to U\u00e7<\/span>ar, who added that the party had received similar complaints from 10 Istanbul districts, including Ba\u011f<\/span>c\u0131<\/span>lar and Kartal, to which it had dispatched lawyers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The BDP perceived the detentions as an effort to weaken the party\u2019s boycott call, she said.<\/p>\n

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Violence also erupted in Istanbul\u2019s Sancaktepe Gazi neighborhood between police and groups that were supporting a boycott of the country\u2019s constitutional referendum.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some people allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at police, while others reportedly threw stones at the windows of schools where voters were casting ballots.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One school in the neighborhood was damaged slightly due to a Molotov cocktail attack that led to the detention of six people. Voting in the school continued after a break.<\/p>\n

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A Molotov cocktail was also thrown at a school in Istanbul\u2019s Beyo\u011f<\/span>lu district. The group that allegedly threw the explosive was also accused of breaking the windows of a school and smashing the glass at a nearby bus stop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clashes erupted Sunday…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tstyn_error":""},"categories":[10,5],"tags":[15476,15477,11414,10222],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45415"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}