Turkish lawmaker hits out at OECD vote criticism

By Alper Atalay

ANKARA

The co-chair of Turkey’s EU parliamentary body has said an OESC report of the country’s referendum has no “concrete base”.

Ahmet Berat Conkar, a lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, said international observers “made points lacking knowledge”.

“Any claim proposing … the referendum was not up to international standards has no concrete base,” he added.

On Monday, the OSCE said a "lack of equal opportunities, one-sided media coverage and limitations on fundamental freedoms” had created an “unlevel playing field" for Turkey’s constitutional referendum.

"In general, the referendum did not live up to Council of Europe standards. The legal framework was inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic process," said Cezar Florin Preda, head of the delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

On Sunday, a majority of Turkish voters cast ballots in favor of 18 constitutional amendments, primarily aimed at switching from a parliamentary to a presidential system of governance.

Reporting by Alper Atalay;Writing by Ahmet Sait Akcay