10 foreigners attempt to interfere in Turkish elections

By Orhan Onur Gemici and Sertac Bulur  

ANKARA

Legal proceedings started on Sunday against 10 foreigners who posed as election observers but attempted to interfere with the elections, according to Interior Ministry officials.

Officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said the foreigners did not have accreditation and they were not Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers.

Despite this, the foreigners introduced themselves as observers and attempted to interfere with the elections in four provinces of Turkey, the officials said.

They added that legal proceedings had commenced against three French nationals in eastern Agri province, three Germans in southeastern Sirnak province, three Italians in southeastern Diyarbakir province, and one Italian in southeastern Batman province.

Turkish voters are casting their votes in presidential and parliamentary elections.  

Voting started at 8.00 a.m. local time (0500GMT) and will continue through 5.00 p.m. local time (1400GMT).