Turkey’s Supreme Election Board (YSK) has rejected appeals from opposition parties CHP and HDP for an annulment of the April 16 referendum won narrowly and controversially by the Yes camp led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP.

In what was a widely expected rejection, the appeals were voted down by 10 votes to one, the YSK board said on April 19.

Prior to the day of the YSK day of decision, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) stated it would take the issue to Turkey's Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights if the board rejected its appeal against the popular vote to bring in an executive presidency with sweeping powers.

Before the board announced its decision, CHP spokeswoman Selin Sayek Boke said on April 19 that the Republicans might consider withdrawing from parliament. The move, she said, would be made in protest at alleged voting irregularities in the April 16 referendum, which, according to the preliminary findings of an academic, include the mysterious disappearance of a block of "Never-AKP" voters. 

“We don't recognise the referendum result. We will exercise all our democratic rights against it,” she said, according to Hurriyet Daily News. Boke added that the referendum should be held again “because it’s illegitimate, and null and void”.

However, shortly after Boke’s bold comments, Levenk Gok, deputy group chairman of the CHP, appeared before TV cameras and announced that the party would stay in parliament. “We discussed this proposal [withdrawing from parliament], but found it inappropriate,” Gok said.

The contradictory and confusing statements from CHP officials suggest that the main opposition party may not have a clear plan as to how to to deal with the unfolding situation.

The CHP has 113 seats in Turkey’s 550-seat parliament. The party took 25.3% of the vote in the November 2015 general election, while the ruling AKP garnered 49.5%.

PM Binali Yildirim earlier this week called on the CHP to respect the outcome of the popular vote. On April 19, he added that making an appeal against the referendum result was a legitimate practice but calling people to the streets to protest was not right.

The government would not allow any such unlawful activities, Yildirim said.

Yildirim made those remarks in response to comments made by CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu

In an interview with BBC Turkce, Kilicdaroglu said that the people had the right to protest.

According to the news service, protesters against the claimed referendum result took to the streets in 14 cities in Turkey on April 18.

Police detained 16 people in dawn raids in Istanbul on April 19. Those detained are accused of inciting hatred among people by claiming that the referendum is illegitimate, Turkish media reported.