brent: this is dw news, live from berlin. tonight, international outrage as the mayor istanbul is told he is not the mayor. opposition parties say in order to repeat the municipal election is an outrageous attempt to silence dissent by a dictatorship. we'll hear from one of the opposition parties and asked them why are they participating in the repeat election? also coming up, thousands of

civilians flee renewed fighting in a syrian province. observers say scores of people have beeeen killed in a surge of violence with government forces targeting rebel held towns. in the two leading contenders to be the next president of the european commission will head to head in a televised debate, but can a dutch socialist or german conservative unite a polarized europe? brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and all around the world, welcome. tonight, turkey's opposition parties say they will run in istanbul's new mayoral election. that, after officials annulled the original election results. president erdogan's party narrowly lost the boat back in

march. everyone then claim the humiliating defeat was the result of vote rigging. but the ousted mayor has promised to be the ruling party when the city returns to the polls in june. >> this is the man who inflicted a sharp defeat on president erdogan by winning the race to become mayor of istanbul. ekrem imanoglu's victory now snatched away by the decision to rerun the boat. today the ousted mayor came e ot fighting. >> this is a big blow to our democracy. we have to repair this together. of course, we are very concerned. and we say this to the people of istanbul. everything is going to be all right. reporter: on the streets, anger at the decision to overturn the original vote.

>> this is a preplanned game in the election authority is a part of it. what else can i say? reporter: but it has -- the decicision has been m made ignog the people's will. >> this came from somebody who doesn't want to lose his popowe, soso it no surprprise. the vote should not have been canceled. reporter: and this is the man they are angry with, president erdogann, unrepentntant in paiaiament. >> i i hope the decision will be good for istanbul as well as our country. it became clear that certain people with dirty hands had become involved. starting before the elections, and they brought the situation to this point, step-by-step. we sincerely believe that there was organized corruption, full illegality and irregularity and the istanbul mayoral election.

reporter: the turkish euro fell sharply on news of the new election. annulling the results has unnerved investors and brought fresh doubts about the -- about democracy in turkey. brent: you symbol plus ousted mayor is from the opposition republican people's party. that party's deputy chairperson is joining me tonight, his name is unal cevikoz. it's good to have you on the show. we just wanted to confirm for our viewers, your party is going to participate in the rerun o of istanbul's electi i in ju, , is that correct? >> that t is correctct. we made the dedecision with all members of the party assembly in a joint meeting today. brent: and why are you participating in this rerun? do you agrgree with president erdodogan that thehe vote in mah

was rigged? >> no,o,efinitely not. you disagree with h presidenent erdogan. we only want to s show t that we play the game acaccording to the rule of lawaw and according to e prprincipleses of democracy.y. the decision o of the highh elelection court,nfortunate, is a a confiscation of the legitime result of election -- legitimate elections. legitimacy is priority and the republican people's party is the founding party of turkey. we have to prove that we are still hoping that in this country, rule of law will brent: maintain. you say you want to respect the rule of law, why are you not challenging the decision made by turkey's election commission? say that that decision was not made based on facts, so why are you cooperating with it?

>> we are not t cooperating. wewe are actually challenging te decisionon. we have beenen challenenging the decision since t the 31st o of march. all the appepeals and objejectis of thehe ruling party have been first ofllll rejecected byy the high election court,t, but then fifinally they foundnd some kinf polititical -- to theirr object. it is not a legal justitificati. erere is no l legal ground fofor refusing t t resulults of the electitions. is is simpmply a politicical decisionon and has been n taken underr political pressure of the ruling party. brent: will you respect the outcome of the election in junun even if your party is the loserr the secocond time around? >> w we don't t think that losis an option becausese we have wonn the electction once and we are pret c confident that we arere going toto win it t again. this time, ekrem imanoglu will

not be the representative for the candidate of the people's party a loan. he's going to be the candidate of all the people of istanbul, who are 60 million strong. brent: i want to ask you again, if your party does not win in june, will y you respect that reresult? quick certainlyly, we are expecting g to win the election. as we are planning to win the elections, we dodon't think that it is a p possibility, but the reresult of the elections will e in our favor. that is for sure. brent: you have no concerns? you are not worried at all that in the rerun of the elections that the party will perhaps try to rig the v vote to ensure that it winins? >> that isis a possibility, certainly, but w we have taken l the measusures. this is s the election to o expn his onon the 31st of mararch.

they can perhaps take ever necessary measure for that to makeke it -- thisis time are gog to makake sure that all t the democraticic forces of isistanbl are e going to join forces a and this is s going to putut us on e winning side of e e elections. maybybe political parares a are employing ththeir candidates i n favorr of ekrem imanoglu, so the democratic alliance is growing in istanbul. brent: you have a very positive outlook on the power of democracy intercountry. what about help from outside the country? there has been massive criticism of this rerun decision here in europe. is there anything that the european union can do to ensure that this repeat is a a fair and freeee electioion? >> first of allll, act express r

gagatitude to all l the suort we have see, fromom germamany, froe miminister of state and thee foreign minisistry, and also frm the european union. all these supports are - -- we hope thehe support will contnti. the support is coming to at least half of the turkish people who still believe that in this country, democracy can prevail. brent: i want to ask you if the election results in june do come out in your favor and you win a second go around, if that election is contested again by the ak party and perhaps a third election is order, that is within the realm of possibility. will you respect the decision of the election board after june''s election?

>> i thinknk it will be very difffficult for r the high elecn board and also foror the ruling party if they losose a second te . this would be ridiculous. brent: unal cevikoz from the chp party, we appreciate you tatakig the time to talk with us tonight. thank you. >> thank you very much. brent: here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo has canceled his plan trip to berlin at short notice. he was expected here today. the u.s. embassy here in berlin saying the visit had to be postponed due to urgent matters. a news agency report cites international security issues as the reason. myanmar has free to journalist that imprisoned after they reported on the countries treatment of a minority. they were arrested in december

2017 and convicted of violating the official secrets act. they were sentenced to seven years in jail. they were given their freedom under presidential amnesty after a local campaign for their release. pro-government forces in libyaya are reported to have clashed with forces supporting a rebel general on the southern edge of the capital tripoli. these pictures are posted on a facebook page. he has been trying to take the senate since the beginning of april. syrian government forces have intensified their shelling of rebel held town's and villages in idlib province. the area supposed to be demilitarized following a truce in september. reports say fresh shelling has destroyed schools and medical clinics and has killed scores of civilians. the united nations says 150,000 civilians are now trying to escape.

>> this woman was hoping to be treated in the clinic, then bombs began to fall. ememergency workers carrieied patients frorom the rubblele. this i is just one of three hospitals in idlib that activists say has been completely destroyed by fighter jets. >> the syrian and russian air forces have been constantly attacking targets. they are still circling over us, including helicopters with errol bonds. -- with barrel bombs. >> the attack has been going on for a week, in spite of a cease-fire. nine schools have also been hit. according to the syrian army, they are targeting the position of militias close to al qaeda which the military says control the province. 150,000 people have fled their homes since the start of the violence. many are from other parts of syria.

>> we have b been fleeing g forx montnths. first the house next door to where we lived was bombed. in we moved here. now this house has also been destroyed. >> refugees in the no man's land at the turkish border hope it is safe to stay here, but they have no roof over their heads, electricity, or rude. the united nations is warning of a looming catastrophe. brent: i'm joined by kristin helberg, she isis one of the few western journalists with extensive contacts in the country. it's good to see you again, although it seems like every time we meet here it is the same story, the new fighting in idlib. >> we have some personal stories coming from them. they're trying to keep some civil resistance there in the past few years. there is a media activist talking about how they had to

leave their parents because they preferred to die there. they left the house, let their parents behind. we have this little two year old girl who is the only survivor of an attack that killed the rest of her family. some activists from the women's center there. we have personal stories and regular accounts of medical relief organizations who have on a daily basis accounts of attacks on their own hospitals. with the help of western, german, american money, now are seeing this being targeted by the bombs of russia. brent: you mentioned the refugees. there are more than 150,000 people who are fleeing their homes right now. where are they going? >> the majority of them come from the southern part of the progress -- of the province.

they are kind of camping outside, waiting to see if they can go back. if there's a major assault on the city of idlib, then they would all try to it as close to the turkish border as they can get. the turkish border is closed and there is no way to get them in, but they feel a little bit safer there. the basic problem is that aside really wants to get -- assad really wanants to get rid of the people. these are people who have already stood up against him and they decided once before that they don't want to surrender. to his understanding, these are terrorists. brent: if these are the last opposition forces in syria that are still willing to say that, syrian forces say they are fighting al qaeda in idlib. >> the province of idlibib is being controlled by a jihadi alliance that is taking control of the province in january.

this alliance was supposed to be fought off by turkey's allied forces. they were supposed to take control, but it did not take place. everybody is kind of frustrated. the jihadi's are militarily controlling the area, giving a hard time to all the activists of the civilians hate them, they suffer from their rule, but the regime and russian are not targeting jihadists. they are targeting civilian infrastructure. brent: when assad's forces say they're tryrying to get rid of l qaeda forces, there is some truth to that, even if the bullets are hitting civilians. >> the bar that we are seeing is not against you hotties, it is a war against civilians -- it's not a war against jihadi's. he was changed the them a

graphic of his own country. whoever left other places in the south of syria are not supposed to be under his control, only loyal syrians. brent: as always, we appreciate your insights. thank you. britain's prince trawls and his wife camilla are here in berlin on an official four-day visit to germany. charles became a grandfather for the fourth time yesterday. that was all the talk here in berlin when he arrived. he spoke about the new baby and addressed the topic that never seems to go way, breaks it. -- brexit. >> t the weather was fit for a king. charles and camilla started their tour of berlin at the chancery, meeting angela merkel, but it was only a short meet and greet. germany's president was waiting. and they had a special present

for prince charles, a teddy bear for his grandson, who was born on monday. there were more well-wishers waiting at the brandenburg gate, berlin's iconic landmark. hundreds lined up to see the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall. rinse charles has been in germany more than 30 times, but if you went by the crowds, you would think it was his first time. the people are very excited and all hoping to catch a glimpse of the royal couple. the duchess of sussex has just given birth to a a b boy, -- a baby boy. it's a double treat for the fans of the house of windsor. excitement was running high and charles and camilla didn't stand on ceremony. the crowd were keen to find out more about the latest royal arrival. >> i'm a bit surprised that berlin seems to be more important for him than being with his grandchild.

i was delighted after i got the newsws yesterday. >> is a continuation of the line . >> later in the evening, a royal party was held at the british industry residence in berlin to celebrate the queen's 93rd birthday. and here charles stressed something that many germans are happy to hear. although the times may be changing, anglo german relations remain a priority. brent: speaking of brexit, written has confirmed that it will take part in the upcoming european parliament elections, despite its plans to leave the european union. prime minister theresa may wanted to avoid holding the vote by passing a breaks it deal in time, but now the british government has admitted d it is legally bound to hold euroropean parliament electionsns to field

candidates on may 23. the prime minister, philip hammond, saying the obligation is challenging, given that the country has voted to leave the e.u.. meanwhile, theresa may's government has resume cross party tarp -- talks aimed at reaching a breaks it deal. in preparation for that on cap -- upcoming deal, the two top candidates for president of the european commission have been debating german public television tonight. they battled it out for the hearts and minds of voters on subjects likely to affect the future of europe. whichever group performs best at the polls has a good chance of replacing outgoing e.u. president jean-claude juncker. the first and perhaps most topical issue in that debate was climate change.

questions coming from several young people in the audience. the candidate from the netherlands from the party of european socialists was passionate about the need for action. >> we deftly need a carbon dioxide tax, and quickly, at the european level. what i would say is that if we don't manage to achieve that i do european level, member states will do it individually, and that would be very bad for our economy and for sustainability. we have to do this together as european union -- as europeans. brent: his rival from germany represents the conservative european people's party in the european parliament. faced with questions about attacking climate change, he emphasized the need to preserve jobs in the energy industries but also advocated big change in transportation.

>> the main issue here is the taxation of air travel. in particular, the fact that kerosene is not taxed due to international contractual agreements, while the way and drivers on the roads have to pay tax on the fuel they use. this unfair situation means flying is much cheaper. this is a sore point, this imbalance has to change in europe. brent: that's talk about the debate. a reporter in brussels is following the lead up to those european elections. can we talk about a winner in that debate? reporter: that's very hard to tell because both men are representatives of the mainstream party. there's not much difference on the issues. there was a lot of harmony, a lot of agreement. those men both want a common migration policy, more rights for women and a new partnership

with africa. but surprising for me is that they didn't talk about the right wing populist that are gathering strength all over europe and proposing to conquer the european parliament and turned upside down. those men keep silent about that, maybe they don't have a recipe of how to fend off this threat to their own parties. that was surprising for me. weber acted more spent -- sportsmanlike, but that was the only difference between the two. brent: people from the outside looking in may wonder if these right-wing parties are doing so well, do they have a chance of actually getting the top job in the european union in those elections? reporter: they haven't gotten so

far yet, but they can have a major influence in the parliament. some polls suggest they will have 20%-20 3% of the seats in parliament if they all team up from the west and east and from north and south. and that forces other parties to form a grand coalition to vote on the new commission president, so both the men have to former grand coalition to achieve this, and this is very difficult in the future. brent: the big elephant in the room is populism, and also breaks it -- brexit. what do you make of the news that britain will be protested putting in these elections later in the month, despite the decision it may almost three years ago to leave the european union? reporter: we missed a little bit

because -- it shows that the government in britain has no clue how to get out of this brexit mess because we will be in the european union at least until october of this year. brexit is also a topic for the parliamentary elections because the deputies that come from britain will be eurosceptic sent right-wingers, so they could tip the scale actually in the grouping in the parliament toward the right wingers and the brits could make the difference in the next parliament. brent: they could make the difference and then be gone in just a matter of months after the election. or that thank you -- thank you. novak djokovic and stan wawrinka were both in action on clay. they are fine-tuning for the

year second d grand slam i in ps at the end of the month. >> for novak d djokovic it was a routinine victory in which he ws rarely troubleled by the amemern qualififier c commentator roots. -- the american qualifier,, tataylor fritz. a 6-2 score sealed the victory and progression into round three. another veteran of the tennessee must looking for his spot in the second roundnd, stan wawrinka ee to win and will face the argentinian next. brent: here's a writer of the top stories were following for you. turkey's opposition party says they will win a controversial rerun of istanbul's mayoral election.

president erdogan's ruling party fought a legal battle to have the opposition's original victory over turned. the united nations says around 100 thousand -- 100,000 civilians are fleeing figighting despite a truc reports say scores of civilians have been killed. you're watching dw news. after short break, i will be back to take you through the day. tonight we will be talking with the spokesman from the turkish president's ak party about the rerun of that election in istanbul. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.. visit ncicap.org]

twenty four correspondents around the work. yeah but it is welcome to live from paris world news and analysis from from spike cat on marco in these the headlights. first off rome libya's internationally recognized leader is in europe seeking support in the face off with these. rerebel rival home fires outsidi was late to metric handle medical in berlin. my my phone is on the list of leaders that he's going to meet. erdogagan defends the routing to re run the sample election this party lost. he says it's a victory for democracy as opposed to calling it a sham. two journalists jailed over that reports about the hard truth