Turkey rejects ‘unacceptable’ US remarks on early polls

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Foreign Ministry on Friday rejected as “unacceptable” the statement of the U.S. Department of State’s spokeswoman over early polls in Turkey.

In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said: "[...] remarks on elections that have yet to take place mean interference in the will of the nation and cannot be accepted."

Aksoy's remarks came shortly after the U.S. State Department’s spokeswoman Heather Nauert expressed "concerns" on early elections during state of emergency in the country.

"All elections held in Turkey are confirmed to be democratic, free, fair and transparent by international observers’ reports. The constitutional referendum held in 2017 under the state of emergency is the latest demonstration of it. By ignoring this fact, it is a malicious approach to claim that the implementation of state of emergency would cause elections to fall behind democratic standards," Aksoy said.

He stressed that the state of emergency is against the activities of the terrorists that are targeting the country's unity and state's survival.

Aksoy recalled that elections were held in many other countries during state of emergency.

"One of the latest examples is the 2017 election in France. Some states, which claim that they embrace democracy and rule of law, display double standard towards Turkey through such biased remarks towards our country," he added.

Turkey declared a state of emergency for the first time on July 20, 2016 following a deadly coup attempt by Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.