Turkish party takes contested referendum to European court

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey’s main opposition party is filing a petition to the European Court of Human Rights challenging Turkey’s April referendum that increases the powers of the president.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of pro-secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, signed the petition on Tuesday before he continued on his 425-kilometre (265-mile) “March for Justice” — a walk from Ankara to Istanbul protesting the jailing of a party lawmaker and other alleged injustices. The march, now on its 20th day, ends Friday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “yes” camp won the referendum with a thin margin.

The CHP contested the outcome citing irregularities, including the electoral board’s decision to count as valid unstamped ballots despite the law. CHP decided to apply to the Strasbourg, France based court following unsuccessful Turkish high court appeals.