Erdoğan (!) Votes Early and Often

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 21 June 2018)


Given her surname, one wonders who her vote(s) went to.

After Şengül Erdoğan posted pictures of herself voting for the 24
June election in both Belgium and at Adnan Menderes Airport in
Izmir she was taken into custody.  When officials of the Senior
Election Council (YSK) learned of Erdoğan's double voting they
filed a criminal complaint with the Ankara Public Prosecutor.

Police in Izmir's Selçuk district had Erdoğan give a statement,
in which she, at first, claimed that she was joking about voting in
two places, which she said would be impossible.  Nevertheless,
Erdoğan was taken from Izmir to Ankara. 

In her statement, Erdoğan explained that she lives in Belgium
and went to the Turkish Consulate there with her Turkish friends,
who were casting their votes.  She claimed that she was holding
the ballot of a friend when she posed for the picture in Brussels
and that she had not cast a vote herself.  A day later, at Adnan
Menderes Airport in Izmir, she cast her vote and posted the photo
on social media, before going to Selçuk district. 

YSK Chairman Sadi Güven noted that "We have seen people
with the same name but different ID cards, and in their mother
and father's name cast votes.  But when we saw the same
individual casting two votes in photographs she shared we
passed this along to the prosecutor.  There cannot be duplicate
registrations at the ballot box.  The individual has been taken
into custody and the investigation is continuing."

Meanwhile, the Ankara Public Prosecutor's office has determined
that there are two individuals named Şengül Erdoğan living in
Brussels, whose parents' names and birth places are different. One
of these individuals voted at 16:27 on 17 June in Brussels and the
other voted at 17:16 on 18 June at Adnan Menderes Airport. (!)

Prosecutor office officials have requested security video from
the Brussels Consulate and they said that the investigation into
the suspect will be comprehensive, to include any possible links
to FETÖ (Fethullah Gülen Terror Organization).  An additional
inquiry has begun into any malfeasance that may have been
committed by ballot box officials in Brussels and Adnan Menderes
Airport.



Şengül hanım confessed she was motivated by the prospect
of winning a free t-shirt.