Turkey protests: Demonstrators, police clash in Van as election unrest continues

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Protests in Turkey's southeastern province of Van continued on Wednesday afternoon after the newly-elected mayor from the pro-Kurdish party was replaced with the candidate from the ruling party.

Abdullah Zeydan, from the DEM Party, was elected in Sunday's local elections as the mayor of Van, but Turkish authorities prevented him from taking up his post due to a last-minute court ruling ahead of the elections. Zeydan had received some 55 per cent of the vote, while the AK Party candidate got 27 per cent.

Hundreds of people took the streets in Van on Tuesday, as well as in other Kurdish-majority cities in Turkey's southeast. On Wednesday, protesters in Van clashed with police, which used water canons and tear gas to disperse the crowds.

Zeydan and DEM Party lawyers appealed the decision to bar him from taking office, a party spokesperson said on Wednesday. Some members of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) joined DEM Party officials, who were in Van to show solidarity and protest the decision.

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