International observers report on the election process

Delegations of international observers  have been targeted by police repression and attacks in the Kurdish region.
While a delegation from the European Parliament was encountered by masked special operation teams in Amed’s central Sur district, a six-person European delegation in Yenişehir and a translator in Dicle district have been taken into custody by the police. The driver accompanying another delegation was battered by AKP members.
Shocked by the situation in the Kurdish region, the European Parliament delegation said;
“We have never seen such an atmosphere anywhere else in the world. The scene is unbelievable.”
In Sur district of Amed, people started to go to schools to cast their votes as of early morning hours. The first thing they encountered at schools was special operation teams wearing masks.
Speaking about the situation, HDP Amed Deputy Candidate Feleknas Uca said the deployment of special operation teams was not instructed by the Supreme Election Board (YSK) but by the Governor.
The electorates on the other hand reacted to the repression by security forces, emphasizing that they will never get intimidated even if the state deploys all its forces in schools.
Special operation teams have also targeted the journalists whom they threatened to “shoot by mistake” in the event of covering the incidents. Police teams also deleted the footage shot by journalists from the areas of police terror.
Martina Michels (Confederal Group of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left at the EP) who took part in the delegation of observers from the European Parliament, said they were shocked to see these happenings and the presence of no democracy in Amed.
Remarking that the heavy presence of police forces in schools paves the way for any kind of provocation, Michels said;
“The incidents taking place here do not comply with any democracy criteria. Nowhere else in the world have I witnessed such a militarist atmosphere. The scene is really unbelievable.”
Another member of the delegation, Josu Juarıstı Abaunz (Confederal Group of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left at the EP) described the presence of police forces both inside and outside the schools as unacceptable, adding that they will convey their observations to the European Parliament.
Another EP Delegation observing the voting in Arabaş village of Sur was battered by AKP Deputy Candidate Şafak Yentürk and his relatives before being forced out of the school where people cast their votes. The driver accompanying the delegation was also beaten by the AKP candidate and the mob near him.
A British delegation observing the voting in Amed’s Çermik district was similarly targeted by AKP Deputy Candidate Baran Çelik and the guards accompanying him. Çelik threatened the delegation at Çermik Anatolian High School, saying;
“This is a democratic country. What do you want? Get the hell out of here.” The guards of the AKP candidate tried to take the delegation out of the school by force”.
In Alokoç village of Çermik, soldiers entered the polling station with arms and tried to intervene the voting of the electorates.
On the other hand, translator Ramazan Tunç was detained by police while accompanying a delegation from the U.S. and Italy in Yokuşlu village of Dicle district. Tunç remains in custody at district gendarmerie station.
In the meantime, an observing delegation from South Kurdistan was denied access to polling station in Alangör village of Yenişehir district on the grounds that they didn’t have their passports with them.
In another case, all the six members of a European delegation were detained by soldiers in the village on the grounds of greeting the local people.
Furthermore, A delegation of observers from Greece has been taken into custody by police in Istanbul.
The Greek delegation was detained after being forcibly taken out of Teyfik Kurt Elementary School in Kumkapı district where they observed the polling. Members of the delegation were taken to Istanbul police directorate.
Reports are coming through that the foreign observers at İbrahim Özay Elementary School in Esenyurt, Tuna Elementary School in Bayrampaşa, Hasan Rumeli Elementary School in Bağcılar have also been detained by police.
While people in the Kurdish region try to cast their votes amid heavy presence and pressure by Turkish security forces, soldiers affiliated to the Turkish military have intervened the polling in Teliba village of Şırnak’s Kurtalan district.
In Teliba (Bozyiğit) village where HDP received 100 percent of the votes in the previous election of June 7, soldiers have suspended the polling after blockading the village with a number of armored vehicles.
The polling has been suspended on alleged grounds that two people have cast their votes without their ID cards.
While more than half of the registered electorates in the village are yet to cast their votes, the situation has been notified to HDP Crisis Desk.
Soldiers affiliated to the Turkish army have blocked the road between Amed and its Lice district.
The road leading to Lice was closed to traffic by 200 vehicles on the route between Fis village and Duru guard post on the grounds of “mines”.
People meant to go to Lice and its villages to cast their votes are being denied access for the last one and a half hour. HDP deputies for Amed have left for the region to intervene the situation.
HDP received 96 percent of the votes in Lice district of Amed in the previous election of June 7.