Since the opening of the polling stations at 7.00 a.m. local time in the morning, the international delegations have also started their work of observing the elections. At the moment, 403 OSCE observers are in Turkey. In the kurdish cities, civil society is also observing the elections. There are independent election observation delegations consisting of 175 parliamentarians, party representatives, civil society representatives, lawyers, academics, scientists, journalists and activists who will document violations.
Election fraud expected
HDP European representative Devriş Çimen had already warned: “Due to the atmosphere in the run-up to the elections, a fair, free and democratic election can hardly be expected. Erdoğan has control over the judiciary, the media and all political institutions of the state and used them in the election campaign. Looking back at the 21 years of [AKP] government, everyone sees that an authoritarian regime has been created.” In light of this, various international organisations have sent official and independent observation missions
Delegations to try to monitor the security of the elections
Çimen highlights the likelihood of massive attacks on the elections by the government and, in light of this, stresses the importance of the election observation delegations: “They will observe on the ground and write reports, because they know that on the one hand, change is possible through elections, but on the other hand, in order to prevent this, all possible forms of fraud, repression and manipulation will be used.”
“Election security not to be left to Erdoğan regime”.
The HDP plays a key role in politics in Turkey, says Çimen, and sees this as the reason for the massive repression against the party: “It is known that Erdoğan is trying to prevent [the HDP] from taking this role with the help of systematic repression, arbitrary and political trials, the imprisonment of thousands of members [of the HDP] and the closure procedure that has been taking place since 2021. It is known that Erdoğan has operated this as a comprehensive electoral fraud and has put pressure on the judiciary accordingly. Since it is known that the HDP received high shares of votes in the past elections and that this time even more votes will go to the Green Left Party (YSP), it can be assumed that anti-democratic practices and methods will be used in the Kurdish provinces, as in past elections. In this regard, the security of the elections is too important to be left solely to institutions under the control of the Erdoğan regime.”
Çimen reported that the independent election observation delegations in Northern Kurdistan consist of 175 participants. They come from France, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. The delegations will be deployed in Northern Kurdistan in Diyarbakır, Bingöl, Muş, Urfa, Mardin, Siirt, Şinak, Hakkari, Ağrı, Kars, Ardahan and Malatya, but also in Istanbul. Çimen continued: “The delegation consists of 175 parliamentarians and representatives of left, socialist, green and social democratic parties, representatives of trade unions and civil society organisations, lawyers, scientists, academics, journalists and activists who will be on the ground in the Kurdish provinces for observation.”
OSCE, OSCE-PA, OHIHR and PACE observers
In addition to the independent delegations, there was also official international election observation by the OSCE, OSCE-PA, OHIHR and PACE. The international election observation is a joint mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE (OSCE PA), and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The observation mission totals 403 observers, made up of 264 ODIHR-deployed experts, long-term, and short-term observers, 101 from the OSCE PA, and 38 from PACE.
The delegations will report to the public
Çimen explains that the HDP European Office is in contact with the election observation delegations and points out that the information from the delegations will be posted on the liveblog on the page LIVE TICKER: Turkey at a turning point? Election observation, obstacles and developments | HDP Europe.
Source: Press, HDP and OSCE