Turkish Parties Seek to Invalidate Last Year's Elections - 2003-09-30

Three political parties in Turkey have asked the country's electoral board to invalidate last year's general elections because of fraud.

On Monday, Turkey's top court of appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the pro-Kurdish Democratic People's Party, or DEHAP, committed election fraud in the November elections.

On Tuesday, the True Path, Labour and Youth parties said the court ruling should force new elections, because DEHAP's illegal activity could have affected the current make-up of parliament.

The electoral board can now either confirm the election results, call new elections or redistribute parliamentary seats.

In Turkey, a political party must win a minimum of 10 percent of the vote to hold any seats in parliament. Although DEHAP failed to meet the standard, other parties argue the millions of votes the party received could have enabled them to meet the criteria and be eligible for seats.