World Tour: Istanbul election, and more protests in Hong Kong

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with Mindy Belz.

MINDY BELZ, REPORTER: Istanbul election—We start today in Turkey.

AUDIO: [Istanbul celebrations]

Supporters of Istanbul’s new mayor celebrated his second election victory on Sunday. Ekrem Imamoglu is a member of the secular opposition party.

He won his first election back in March. But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party claimed fraud and appealed that result. The electoral board eventually ordered a new election.

Imamoglu narrowly won the first election, but this one was a blowout: he defeated Erdogan’s ally by more than 800,000 votes.

IMAMOGLU: [Talking to supporters]

Imamoglu told supporters the election marked a “new beginning” for Turkey. The new mayor is a devout Muslim. But in his victory speech he embraced the country’s ethnic and religious minorities.

Analysts called the victory a win for pluralistic democracy. Erdogan’s AKP party has held power in Istanbul for 25 years.

More protests in Hong Kong—Next we go to Hong Kong.

AUDIO: [Hong Kong protests]

Protesters there blocked access to a government office for two hours on Monday. And they plan more protests later this week as the G20 summit kicks off in Japan.

They hope the protests will urge the international community to pressure Beijing to respect democracy in the semi-autonomous city.

But Chinese officials say they have no intention of listening.

AUDIO: [China’s assistant minister of foreign affairs]

China’s assistant minister of foreign affairs said his country would not allow any discussion of Hong Kong at the G20 summit. He called the situation in Hong Kong part of China’s internal affairs. And he insisted no foreign country had a right to intervene.

American sentenced in Vietnam—Next, to Vietnam.

A court in Hanoi sentenced an American citizen to 12 years in prison Monday for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government.

The court also convicted Michael Nguyen of attempting to incite protests and attack government offices. Police arrested him along with two Vietnamese men a year ago. State media reported they were attempting to recruit more anti-government protesters.

Nguyen’s lawyers say he pleaded guilty in hopes of getting a lighter sentence. He denies any involvement in political activities. He says he traveled to Vietnam to visit extended family and see the place where he was born.

U.K. appeals court reverses abortion ruling—We end today with good news from the U.K.

A British appeals court has ruled that a disabled woman should not be forced to have an abortion against her will. A lower court judge had ruled on Friday that it was in the woman’s best interest to kill her child. The judge said the woman was not capable of taking care of the baby.

The woman’s mother challenged that ruling. She’s a Catholic immigrant from Nigeria and a former midwife. She said she would continue to care for her daughter and her new grandchild.

The pregnant woman is in her 20s but has the mental capacity of a 9-year-old. She is about 22 weeks pregnant.

British pro-life groups celebrated Monday’s ruling. And they called for an investigation into how many other disabled women have endured forced abortions.

That’s this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Mindy Belz.

(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) Supporters of Ekrem Imamoglu, the candidate of the secular opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, celebrate in central Istanbul, Sunday, June 23, 2019. 

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