Erdoğan changes 4 provincial borders 'as part of gerrymandering'

President Erdoğan has changed four provincial borders, in what critics say an effort towards gerrymandering. The provinces affected by the changes are Diyarbakır, Ordu, Giresun and Muş.

Sunday March 21 2021 12:16 pm

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ordered four provincial borders to be changed in two presidential decrees, in a move that the critics call amount to gerrymandering.

The Şenyayla region of the Kulp district of the Kurdish majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır now belongs to the bordering province of Muş.

The border between the Black Sea provinces of Ordu and Giresun was also changed.

Commenting on the changes, pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Honorary Chair Ertuğrul Kürkçü said that the move is gerrymandering, which is to manipulate the boundaries of an electoral constituency so as to favor one party or class.

"Gerrymandering has begun. We may now see changes in a lot of provincial or district borders," Kürkçü said on Twitter on March 20.

“Geerymandering” başladı. Bundan böyle çok il ilçe sınırı değiştiğini görebiliriz. Dar bölge simülasyon çalışmalarının bittiğini ve milletten gizli ve kanunsuz uygulama hazırlıklarına geçildiğini düşünmek için çok neden var. https://t.co/xm2kFrTp3O
— Ertuğrul Kürkçü (@ekurkcuHDP) March 20, 2021

"There are a lot of reasons to think that the simulation works for the simple-member district system are completed and preparations for its implementation unlawfully and hidden from the public are underway," he noted, referring to the government's works on changing the election system.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been working on a new election system since its votes have decreased significantly.