Turkish PM: Security measures adopted for election

By Efsun Yilmaz

IZMIR, Turkey (AA) - The Turkish prime minister said on Saturday that the government is taking foolproof security measures during elections.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency in western Izmir province, Binali Yildirim slammed main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu for bringing election security to the agenda before the polls.

"Our government has been taking necessary measures for the last several months in order to ensure a safe and peaceful election," Yildirim said.

Responding to a question regarding foreign election observers, Yildirim said some election observers 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," Yildirim said.

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.

Yildirim said the election observers should come and observe the elections properly and they should not intervene in politics.

Turkey will go to polls on Sunday for presidential and parliamentary elections.

Nearly 400 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers have reportedly arrived in Turkey to monitor presidential and parliamentary elections.

Some OSCE observers held talks with opposition groups both in capital Ankara and Istanbul and advised them on how they could cast doubt over the outcome of the elections, such as questioning the results, according to security sources who requested anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

During the talks, some OSCE officials “suggested organizing wide-ranging protests to draw opposition groups to the streets after the election results become clear”.