NEWS CENTER – Election irregularities and violations are ongoing even as votes continue to be counted in Turkey.

In the Serhat region, there have been a number of reports of violations. Residents of the district of Tatvan in Bitlis received text messages urging them to vote for the AKP, despite the total ban on electioneering on election day. Meanwhile, in the Güroymak district of Bitlis, military officials attempted to seize votes without allowing any elections observers to accompany them. A HDP delegation is at the scene.

In the Muradiye district of Van province, tensions continuing all day have died down. AKP supporters attacked a family with stones and batons, wounding three. HDP supporters have formed a corridor to evacuate the wounded from the tense scene. In the town of Erciş, also in Van, at a polling station at a school named after RecepTayyipErdoğan's mother, there are an unusually high number of votes for the AKP in one ballot box, while another has gone missing.

In the province of Mersin, journalists are being refused access to the courthouse where votes are being counted. The journalists from Doğan and Cihan News Agencies have met with a lawyer from the Mersin Bar Association to request to be let in. Police have surrounded the building and closed the roads. A mass has gathered outside.

(mg/cm)