The Turkish Supreme Election Council’s (SEC) decision to cancel the Istanbul mayoral elections election results and to rerun elections runs counter to the actual notion of the democratic electoral process.

A view to this effect is noted in the statement by EU foreign policy chief—High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Vice President of the EU Commission Federica Mogherini, and EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn.

The Turkish SEC on Monday decided to cancel the results of the Istanbul mayoral election in which ex-PM and former speaker of the Turkish parliament Binali Yıldırım, who was the Istanbul mayoral candidate of the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan-led ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), was defeated.

Also, the SEC announced that it will revoke the official report on recognizing opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu as mayor of Istanbul.