Turkish local elections

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have agreed to start the parliamentary discussions on the constitutional amendment package next week.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has signaled that the government might consider holding parliamentary and presidential elections earlier than the scheduled date of June 18.

Leader of main opposition Republican People's Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu (C), candidate of main opposition Republican People's Party for Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas and Republican People's Party candidate for Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu greet their supporters in Ankara, April 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/STRINGER.

Remarks by Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu that his party has more voter information than the Supreme Election Board (YSK) has ramped up a war of words between the main opposition party and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The lawsuit filed against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu started on June 1 and the first hearing ended with a postponement decision due to a demand by the prosecutor.

İmamoğlu faces up to four years in prison on charges of "insulting the members of the Supreme Election Council [YSK]."

An Istanbul prosecutor has demanded up to a four-year prison sentence for Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu for insulting members of the Supreme Election Board (YSK) following the cancelation of the results for the March 2019 local elections.

The Supreme Election Board (YSK) has announced that all election boards will be renewed until July 6 in line with the recent amendments to the election law.

Devlet Bahçeli, the head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has called on Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu to resign because of what he called "his failure" in the fight against last week's heavy snow and for meeting a foreign envoy instead of serving the people of Istanbul.

A powerful snowstorm that crippled Turkey's largest city has become the subject of a heated political debate, with officials from the ruling Justice and Developed Party (AKP) accusing Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu of failing to respond to the crisis properly.

The former spokesperson for the Turkish FM has said that the Ministry is no longer an independent diplomatic body but rather an arm of the ruling AKP