At least 24 diplomats from 11 Western countries have been denied permission to observe the Turkish electoral process for Sunday’s parliamentary and presidential elections as part of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observation mission, according to a report by Cumhuriyet daily.
Two others on the mission were prevented from even entering the country on the basis that they were terrorist sympathisers and anti-Turkish, the newspaper said. The Turkish Foreign Ministry had decided not to allow any foreign representatives to observe the electoral process, it added.
An election observer, speaking to the newspaper anonymously, told Cumhuriyet daily that it was normal for diplomats to be able to watch elections. “When even Russia allows hundreds of diplomats to observe its elections, this being denied in Turkey is very disappointing,” the observer said. “There will certainly be a response to this and Turkish diplomats will face similar sanctions,” the diplomat added.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım claimed on Saturday that some foreign election observers “behave like spokespeople of radical political structures.” Speaking to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, Yıldırım also slammed main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for bringing election security to the agenda before the June 24 polls.
“Our government has been taking necessary measures for the last several months in order to ensure a safe and peaceful election,” claimed Yıldırım. Responding to a question regarding foreign election observers, Yıldırım said some of them “behave like spokespeople of radical political structures. We believe that this is not correct. We think that it means an intervention in the elections in one way or another.”
He said no one has the right to cast shadow on these elections in Turkey and it would be a great unfairness to Turkish people. Yıldırım said the election observers should come and observe the elections “properly and they should not intervene in politics.”
Turkey will go to polls on June 24 for presidential and parliamentary elections. Nearly 400 OSCE observers have reportedly arrived in Turkey to monitor presidential and parliamentary elections. However, two parliamentarians from Germany and Sweden were denied entry to Turkey on Friday for the OSCE observatory mission.
Turkish government had accused Germany’s left-wing Die Linke party deputy Andrej Hunko, in his Council of Europe (CoE) observatory mission for the April 2017 constitutional amendment referendum, of having a biased position in favor of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The post Turkish gov’t rejects 24 diplomats from Western countries as electoral observers appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.
from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-govt-rejects-24-diplomats-from-western-countries-as-electoral-observers/
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder