Turkey: Istanbul mayoral candidates face off in rare live televised debate

W/S Televised debate with Binali Yildirim, Ekrem Imamoglu and journalist Ismail Kucukkaya, Istanbul
SOT, Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul mayor candidate from CHP (Turkish): "I am the elected mayor. I'm the mayor who received a certificate, who served and was elected for 18 days. The re-run election is a struggle of democracy. It is a struggle of democracy endowed against those who usurped our rights, the rights of 16 million people. That is crystal clear. *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
C/U Pen gifted by Imamoglu to Yildirim for Father's Day
W/S Imamoglu gives pen to Yildirim
SOT, Binali Yildirim, Istanbul mayor candidate from AKP (Turkish): "How do you mean? The results of every election should be accepted. But, however, appealing and electing are an act of democracy. During the counting, if appealing is deemed necessary, it will happen. But maybe this time we won't appeal the decision but dear Mr Ekrem will. I think this is something normal for both sides." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
M/S Debate *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul mayor candidate from CHP (Turkish): "If we had not been keeping our tracks solid, if we had not been brought the result in to our headquarters, if tens of thousands of people had not been struggling for democracy, that night this affair could have been over. This is a setup process, it is crystal clear." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
SOT, Binali Yildirim, Istanbul mayor candidate from AKP (Turkish): "Now I am asking Mr Ekrem, we got pretty much the same number of votes after all. After the last counting was over, the difference between us was 13,729. There is no need to mix up numbers. Cancelled votes and all, they were counted, and the difference of 13,729 emerged." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
SOT, Binali Yildirim, Istanbul mayor candidate from AKP (Turkish): "We conducted the Afrin operation, as you know, I was the Prime Minister. We sent some of them [Syrian] over there. We have taken Jerablus, Al-Bab, and we have sent them there. Around 500,000 Syrians are gone. Now we are going to clean the area which is in the east of Euphrates, the 711 km and 50 meters zone, and we will send the rest of them there. However, during this period, if the ones who are living in the different areas of Istanbul, specifically in some districts such as Fatih, Zeytinburnu, Esenyurt, Beyoglu, the number is too high. If there, there is a problem of public order, if they disturb the tranquillity of Istanbul residents, if they get involved in incidents, if they do unlawful things, we will send them like that, without waiting for the regular procedure." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
SCRIPT
The top Istanbul mayoral candidates, Justice and Development Party's (AKP) Binal Yildirim and Ekrem Imamoglu from the Republican People's Party (CHP), faced off in a rare live television debate in Istanbul on Sunday, a week ahead of the re-run of the March 31 elections.
The live debate, which is a rare occurrence in Turkey, was hosted by journalist Ismail Kucukkaya.
Imamoglu called the appeal for a re-run "a struggle of democracy endowed against those who usurped our rights, the rights of sixteen million people."
When asked if he will accept the results of the re-run Yildirim replied: "How do you mean? The results of every election should be accepted. But, however, appealing and electing are an act of democracy. During the counting, if appealing is deemed necessary, it will happen. But maybe this time we won't appeal the decision but dear Mr Ekrem will. I think this is something normal for both sides."
Binali Yildirim also addressed the situation of Syrian refugees living in Istanbul and said that there will be a procedure to send them back to Syria once the area in the 'East of Euphrates' will be 'cleared'. He warned however that if "there is a problem of public order, if they disturb the tranquillity of Istanbul residents, if they get involved in incidents, if they do unlawful things, we will send them like that, without waiting for the regular procedure."
Istanbul is reportedly the province accommodating the highest number of Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Ekrem Imamoglu from the opposition CHP had won the neck-and-neck election on March 31, in a blow to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party, who had ruled Istanbul for 15 years.
Imamoglu was declared Mayor of Istanbul on April, 17, before the Supreme Election Council (YSK) annulled the results and ordered a re-run based on an appeal by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP, which insisted that voting irregularities rendered the result invalid.
The second mayoral election will take place next Sunday, June 23.