The DEM party's Van co-mayor candidates, Abdullah Zeydan and Neslihan Şedal, received 55.5 percent of the vote, despite thousands of non-local voters who were escorted to Van by the government to influence the election results in Erdoğan's favor. The difference in votes was over 125,000, with the AKP’s candidate, Abdulahat Arvas, getting just 27.1 percent of the votes.

However, with a clear illegal and undemocratic attempt to invalidate the election results in Van, the certificate of mayor was given to Arvas.

The co-chairs of the DEM party, Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan, assessed the process as a political coup and protested in front of the High Election Committee (YSK) in Ankara.

Bakırhan said: "The coup, which was previously carried out through trustees, is now being carried out by the judiciary and existing laws. We will not allow the will of the people of Van to be squandered by such games."

Bakırhan continued: "The President said on Monday, 'We will respect the will of the people and the results of the ballot box'. What happened, what changed the next day? Isn't the usurped will of the people of Van the will of the people, the result of the ballot box? One wonders if the President meant to say 'We will respect the will of the people except that of the Kurds?'"

Bakırhan also said: "This is a political coup. This situation is not just a DEM Party's problem. It is a problem for everyone in Turkey who has a conscience, who has honor, and who has a shred of democracy left in them.

We call on all political parties, democratic mass organizations, and all sensitive groups in Turkey to show solidarity with the people of Van and the DEM Party against this political coup. We invite everyone to fight together to eliminate this injustice and unlawfulness."

Tülay Hatimoğulları said: "Neither the Kurdish people, nor the people of Van, nor the people of Turkey, nor the forces of democracy in Turkey will ever allow this political coup. All together, we will stand against this political coup.

If the government tries to take revenge on DEM Party members for its defeat, it will make a big mistake. This decision should be reversed immediately.

We invite all democratic forces in Turkey to stand by the people of Van."