Around 5,000 soldiers and police officers were deployed as voters in the city of Iğdır as the manipulation in favour of the ruling AKP continues in the run-up to the local elections on 31 March.
Local elections will be held in Turkey on 31 March. Manipulations in favour of the ruling power bloc consisting of the Islamist Erdoğan party AKP and the ultranationalist MHP are observed almost daily, especially in provinces with a high proportion of Kurdish voters who are traditionally close to the parties of the democratic opposition.
The latest irregularities in voter registration are currently taking place in the province of Iğdır. Around 5,000 soldiers and police officers have been deployed to the region on the border with Armenia to vote. The civil servants have been flown to Iğdır by transport aircraft over the past few days. The last group of supposedly authorised voters landed at the province's airport yesterday evening.
It is reported that the governorate and the police have set up mobile dormitories to accommodate soldiers and police officers in many places in the center and the districts of Iğdır. Some of the security forces are said to have been accommodated in provincial administration facilities, at the site of the deportation centre and in the training hotel of the Faculty of Tourism, which is located on the Karaağaç campus of Iğdır University. Observers expect further transport of voters to Iğdır in the coming days.
