Turkey’s chief election authority has ruled that several mayors-elect from the main pro-Kurdish party cannot take up their posts because they were previously dismissed from their jobs under government decrees, according to the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP). Spokesman Saruhan Oluc said on Thursday that his party was being targeted in an “organized political plot” after nationwide local elections on March 31, Reuters reported. More than half of the elected HDP mayors are also still waiting to receive their mandates to take up their posts, he said. The High Election Board (YSK) has rejected several appeals to the initial results by the HDP and other opposition parties. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party has also had a few objections turned down. The initial mayoral results show the AKP lost control of Istanbul, the capital Ankara, and other key cities.