OSCE reveals preliminary findings for Turkey elections

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in its preliminary findings Monday said "some of the irregularities" noticed in Turkish elections would not change the final result.

The joint preliminary findings and conclusions from Sunday's presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey were announced by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, Parliamentary Assembly (PA) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Ankara during a news conference.

Audrey Glover, head of the ODIHR election observation mission, during new conference said they have been in Turkey since May 24 and thanked Turkey for being invited to follow the elections process.

Glover said they have monitored seven elections in Turkey up to now, and added that nearly 350 observers followed Sunday's elections. Despite the lack of conditions for contestants to compete on an equal basis, voters had a genuine choice she said.

She praised the significance of allowing independent presidential candidates and of having a female presidential candidate for the first time as well as civil society's efforts to maintain transparency.

Glover added: "We have as you know had some information about irregularities in relation to counting and tabulation. And we are looking into these and we only got some yesterday [Sunday]. We also don’t know at this point in time whether there were any complaints in relation to any of these particular incidents."

"There were some as you say but they weren’t an amazing number. We cant really say for sure at the moment because we still don't have full results in. But it is probably rather unlikely that these few irregularities will make much difference to the final result."

Head of the PACE delegation Olena Sotnyk said: "Yesterday's elections were crucial. It was understood because of the high involvement of the citizens [... ]I think it is the most positive thing that we need to mention. The high participation in their involvement, first of all show us the political maturity of this country and their citizens."

She noted that elections were not only about voting but rather a process and said the presidential candidates were unable to compete on an equal basis.

Sotnyk also expressed concerns about transparency and impartiality and said some of the observers were allegedly limited in some areas including Istanbul, Ankara and Diyarbakir.

Additionally, the head of the OSCE PA delegation Peter Osusky commented on German lawmaker Andrej Hunko and Swedish MP Jabar Amin not being allowed to enter Turkey for election observation.

Osusky said these individuals were to enter the country as parliamentarians who would observers elections in accordance with OSCE standards.

He said it was unacceptable for OSCE members to be faced with such treatment due to their political preferences. However, he did affirm that sovereign countries have the right to deny access for individuals.

- OSCE representatives denied access to Turkey

Hunko was denied access to Turkey and Amin was told to return to his country from Istanbul as soon as he arrived with the first airplane available.

Hunko has worked for the annulment of German laws that ban symbols of PKK and PKK-affiliated NGOs. His support for the PKK terror group went as far as to share photographs with PKK flags despite German laws prohibiting the use of such symbols.

Hunko had also visited Turkey during last year’s constitutional referendum as an OSCE election observer. But rather than being an impartial observer, he participated in several meetings with the aim to influence Turkish citizens to cast a 'No' vote in the referendum. The Berlin Prosecutor’s Office had opened an investigation against Hunko along with 10 more deputies on charges of violating the ban against PKK in 2014.

Swedish MP Jabar Amin has been conducting anti-Turkey campaigns accusing the Turkish military, Erdogan and other Turkish officials of committing war crimes. On one occasion, he filed a complaint with the Stockholm International Prosecutor’s office demanding that Erdogan and other Turkish officials be tried in international courts. He also submitted a draft resolution to the Swedish parliament seeking a similar goal.

Amin also penned articles in the Swedish press that called for the awarding of Nobel Peace Prize to the jailed head of the PKK terrorist organization, Abdullah Ocalan. He had also lobbied in favor of the YPG terror group -- PKK’s Syrian branch -- in Sweden and visited several politicians and officials with YPG’s so-called commanders at his side. He also made sure Salih Muslim, one of the leaders of YPG, was hosted at the Swedish parliament.