ISTANBUL: Turkey’s justice minister slammed the main opposition party on Saturday for contesting the outcome of Sunday’s referendum on expanding presidential powers and said there is no judicial path to reverse the ruling.
In a series of tweets, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said all decisions on electoral issues, including complaints and fraud allegations, are in the purview of Turkey’s electoral board.
“Applications against the High Electoral Board’s decisions cannot be taken to any court or authority, including the Council of State and the Constitutional Court,” he tweeted. Bozdag said these judicial organs would reject such applications based on Turkish laws.
Bozdag’s comments follow an application by the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) to the Council of State on Friday, seeking to overturn the electoral board’s decision that unstamped ballot papers were valid.
International monitors said the electoral board’s decision removed an important safeguard against fraud and was “contrary to law.” The board, however, published past rulings on the validity of unstamped ballots.
The controversy on unstamped ballots formed the basis of applications by the CHP and two other opposition parties to annul the referendum, which the electoral board rejected Wednesday with a 10-1 vote.
CHP officials said they would contest the decision at the Constitutional Court and if necessary, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The minister said the CHP was showing contempt for the people’s will and tweeted, “No court can undo/change the decisions of the nation.”
Unofficial results show Erdogan’s “yes” campaign garnered 51.4 percent of the vote.
Turkey’s minister slams opposition for contesting referendum result
Turkey’s minister slams opposition for contesting referendum result
‘No good actors’ in Sudan war, says Trump’s Middle East adviser
- Resolving conflict a ‘deeply felt concern’ of US president, Massad Boulos tells UN Security Council
- ‘Today, Sudan faces the biggest and gravest humanitarian catastrophe in the world’
LONDON: A senior adviser to US President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized Sudan’s warring factions as he warned that no military solution could resolve the civil war.
Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior adviser on African, Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, was speaking at a ministerial-level UN Security Council briefing on Sudan.
A UN fact-finding mission has determined that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces’ siege of the city of El-Fasher likely constituted genocide.
Resolving the almost three-year-long war in Sudan is a “deeply felt concern” of Trump, Boulos told the briefing, which was chaired by UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
“Under President Trump and Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio’s leadership and close direction, I am helping to spearhead US efforts to achieve peace in Sudan,” he said.
“Today, Sudan faces the biggest and gravest humanitarian catastrophe in the world. After more than 1,000 days of needless conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, the toll is staggering.”
In the eyes of the US, “there are no good actors in this conflict,” Boulos said, criticizing both factions for carrying out “serious human rights violations and abuses.”
He highlighted apparent efforts by coordinated Islamist networks to regain political influence in the fractured Sudanese state.
“Let me be clear: Efforts by Islamist networks or any extremist political movement to manipulate this conflict, derail a civilian transition, or reassert authoritarian control will not be tolerated by the US,” Boulos said.
“We will use the tools at our disposal — including sanctions and other measures — to hold accountable those who enable violence, undermine democratic governance, or threaten regional stability.”
His remarks came as the US announced fresh sanctions on RSF commanders, citing their record of “human rights violations, including ethnic killings, torture, starvation tactics and sexual violence.”
The paramilitary figures are now “subject to asset freezes, arms embargoes and travel bans,” Boulos said, adding: “We are working closely with partners in this room — including the United Kingdom, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and several others — to press for an immediate humanitarian truce, and without preconditions.
“Such a truce must guarantee sustained, unhindered humanitarian access across conflict lines and borders.”
He urged the international community to support five pillars of engagement to resolve the crisis: achieving an immediate humanitarian truce; coordinated efforts to ensure sustained humanitarian access; a phased approach for negotiating a permanent ceasefire; a structured political process that leads to a civilian-led transitional government and democratic elections; and a robust reconstruction and recovery effort.
“The US remains committed to working with all of you to end this tragic conflict and to support a peaceful, civilian future for Sudan,” Boulos said.
