Protests broke out on Monday night after the decision by Iğdır District Election Committee to reject the candidacy of Mehmet Nuri Güneş for the post of co-mayor in Iğdır (Reşqelas) and Emine Yöndem Kartal, in Hoşhaber (Xoşxeber).

Due to pressure from the ruling AKP party, Güneş was refused his candidacy. The DEM party politician had been convicted of "membership of the PKK" in the past. However, he served his sentence and the court had approved the full restoration of his rights and thus his candidacy.

After the committee's decision, DEM party supporters gathered in front of the election office in Iğdir. The protesters noted that there had previously been no objections to the candidacy of those now rejected, but that there were now obvious attempts to block their participation in the elections due to their popularity.

Party representatives announced that they would appeal the decision to the High Election Committee and added that the candidacies of Mehmet Şah, Ahmet Emin Can, Turan Kaya, Evren Zenci and Yaşar Kalay for the city council were also rejected.