Fraud claim incidents mar Turkish elections

Five members of Turkey’s ruling party were beaten by enraged opposition supporters over suspicion of fraud, Anatolia news agency reported Sunday. Police detained 34 people in a separate incident in the Kurdish southeast.

By News Wires (text)

AFP - Five members of Turkey's ruling party were beaten Sunday over an alleged attempt to sneak fake ballots papers into a polling station in Ankara, Anatolia news agency reported.

The incident occurred in the capital's Kecioren district as Turkey held general elections, which were expected to give the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) a third straight term in power.

Police fired shots in the air to end the melee and put the five AKP members on a bus as enraged opposition supporters pelted the vehicle with stones, Anatolia reported.

Soon afterwards, a car outside the polling station was attacked - again on suspicion of carrying fake ballot papers, prompting police to use tear gas to disperse the quarrelling crowd.

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A total of 14 people were detained, according to Anatolia.

AKP deputy chairman Salih Kapusuz slammed the incident as a "provocation" by the two largest opposition forces -- the People's Republican Party and the Nationalist Action Party.

In Batman, in the mainly Kurdish southeast, police detained 34 people on charges they threatened voters in a bid to cajole them into supporting two Kurdish nationalists running as independents in the city, Anatolia said.

Police took into custody another four people in Sanliurfa, in the same region, on charges of double voting, it said.