US, EU Call for Probe after Reports of Georgia Election Violations

Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
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US, EU Call for Probe after Reports of Georgia Election Violations

Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)

Georgia's president called for protests on Monday following a disputed parliamentary election, and the United States and the European Union urged a full investigation into reports of violations in the voting.
The results, with almost all precincts counted, were a blow for pro-Western Georgians who had cast Saturday's election as a choice between a ruling party that has deepened ties with Russia and an opposition aiming to fast-track integration with Europe, said Reuters.
Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said on Sunday they had registered incidents of vote-buying, voter intimidation, and ballot-stuffing that could have affected the outcome, but they stopped short of saying the election was rigged.
President Salome Zourabichvili urged people to take to the streets to protest against the results of the ballot, which the electoral commission said the ruling party had won.
In an address on Sunday, she referred to the result as a "Russian special operation". She did not clarify what she meant by the term.
The ruling Georgian Dream party, of which Zourabichvili is a fierce critic, clinched nearly 54% of the vote, the commission said, as opposition parties contested the outcome and vote monitors reported significant violations.
Georgian media cited Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze as saying on Monday that the opposition was attempting to topple the "constitutional order" and that his government remained committed to European integration.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States joined calls from observers for a full probe.
"Going forward, we encourage Georgia's political leaders to respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, and address deficiencies in the electoral process together," Blinken said in a statement.
Earlier, the European Union urged Georgia to swiftly and transparently investigate the alleged irregularities in the vote.
"The EU recalls that any legislation that undermines the fundamental rights and freedoms of Georgian citizens and runs counter to the values and principles upon which the EU is founded, must be repealed," the European Commission said in a joint statement with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
President Zourabichvili, a former Georgian Dream ally who won the 2018 presidential vote as an independent, urged Georgians to protest in the center of the capital Tbilisi on Monday evening, to show the world "that we do not recognize these elections".
For years, Georgia was one of the most pro-Western countries to emerge from the Soviet Union, with polls showing many Georgians disliking Russia for its support of two breakaway regions of their country.
Russia defeated Georgia in their brief war over the rebel province of South Ossetia in 2008.
The election result poses a challenge to the EU's ambition to expand by bringing in more former Soviet states.
Moldova earlier this month narrowly approved adding a clause to the constitution defining EU accession as a goal. Moldovan officials said Russia meddled in the election, a claim denied by Moscow.



Mayor from Türkiye Main Opposition Party is Detained over Alleged Ties to Kurdish Militants

A supporter of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan waves a Turkish flag during a pro-government protest in Cologne, Germany July 31, 2016. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler
A supporter of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan waves a Turkish flag during a pro-government protest in Cologne, Germany July 31, 2016. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler
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Mayor from Türkiye Main Opposition Party is Detained over Alleged Ties to Kurdish Militants

A supporter of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan waves a Turkish flag during a pro-government protest in Cologne, Germany July 31, 2016. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler
A supporter of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan waves a Turkish flag during a pro-government protest in Cologne, Germany July 31, 2016. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

A mayor from Türkiye's main opposition party was detained Wednesday on suspicion of being a member of a banned Kurdish militant group, state-run media reported.

Ahmet Ozer, mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district and a member of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was arrested by anti-terrorist police over alleged connections to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

The arrest comes as Türkiye is debating a tentative peace process to end a 40-year conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state that has led to tens of thousands of deaths.

Ozer, 64, is a former academic originally from Van in eastern Türkiye. He was elected mayor of Esenyurt, a western suburb on Istanbul’s European side, in March local elections.

The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said an investigation showed Ozer had maintained contacts with PKK figures for more than 10 years.

His home, vehicle and office in the municipality were searched early Wednesday as part of the investigation.

CHP leader Ozgur Ozel condemned the arrest as “the ugly game, the big conspiracy” and linked it to recent political developments.

“The treatment of a scientist, opinion leader and politician who was elected with the great favor of the voters of Esenyurt ... is unfair and the allegations are baseless,” he said on social media, The AP reported.

Politicians and members of Türkiye's pro-Kurdish movement have frequently been targeted over alleged links to the PKK, which is considered a terror organization by Türkiye, the US and the European Union.

Legislators have been stripped of their parliamentary seats and mayors removed from office. Several lawmakers as well of thousands of party members have been jailed on terror-related charges since 2016.

Other opposition parties have been largely unscathed but the CHP metropolitan mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, is currently appealing a prison sentence and political ban imposed by a court last December for “insulting” members of Türkiye's election board in 2019.