ANKARA

Turkey's election authority on Thursday rejected an appeal by the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) over last month’s local elections. 

The HDP had objected to a Supreme Election Council (YSK) decision revoking certificates of election from winning candidates who were found to have been dismissed by decree after the 2016 defeated coup.

The appeal was rejected by a majority of votes on the election council.

Following the revocation, the certificate of elections will be handed over the candidate with the second-highest number of votes.

In the wake of the 2016 defeated coup by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) -- which martyred 251 people and injured some 2,200 -- thousands of state employees suspected of FETO ties were dismissed under state of emergency decrees.

Millions of Turkish voters cast their votes nationwide on March 31 in local elections to choose mayors, city council members, and other officials for the next five years. 

* Writing by Beyza Binnur Donmez