One month before the presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey, observers see a “difficult electoral environment”. “From our point of view, there are many characteristics of these elections and the state of Turkey that cause great concern,” said Frank Schwabe (SPD), head of the election observation mission of the Council of Europe of the dpa on Friday. These include the level of democracy, freedom of the media, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, about which the Council of Europe has previously expressed concern.
“Nevertheless, Turkish democracy is surprisingly resilient,” said Schwabe. There is an active civil society that knows how to observe an election. On election day, one can therefore have “a certain amount of confidence that the vote of the people at the ballot box will also be reflected in the result.”
Close race expected between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu
On May 14, around 64 million eligible voters are called upon to cast their votes. Opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, among others, is running against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in power for a good 20 years. Polls predict a close race.
The election is marked by the devastating earthquakes of February 6th. The observer delegation said it had concerns about the logistical organization of the election. So far, according to a member of the electoral authority, only 100,000 people have registered in a new place of residence. According to the government, 3.7 million people left the region.
According to election observers, several parties also have serious concerns about the fairness of the election process, for example with regard to the funds made available and balanced reporting in the public media. Much of the media in Turkey is under the direct or indirect control of the government.
