Vedat Aker, a local journalist in Turkey’s eastern province of Batman, was detained while covering a dispute that erupted during celebrations of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s victory in the country’s runoff election on Sunday, the Duvar news website reported.
Aker, owner of the local Batman Burada newspaper, was covering a quarrel between Erdoğan supporters and a group protesting the celebrations when officers detained him and took him to a police station in Batman.
According to Duvar, the police detained around 20 people who were involved in the altercation.
The head of Turkey’s Supreme Election Board (YSK) on Sunday declared President Erdoğan the winner of a historic runoff that will extend his 20-year rule until 2028.
Following the announcement of Erdoğan’s victory, his supporters poured into the streets to celebrate Sunday evening.
Erdoğan received 52.1 percent of the nationwide vote, while his main rival, opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, got 47.8 percent, according to the preliminary results of the runoff election.
Sunday’s run-off vote was the first time since direct presidential elections were introduced in 2014 that the vote had gone to a second stage.
