‘OSCE plans to mar results of Turkey's elections’

By Sinan Uslu

ANKARA

Some observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are planning to sow chaos in Turkey by creating a “shady perception” of the results of the June 24 elections, security sources said Friday.

Nearly 400 OSCE observers have arrived in Turkey to monitor presidential and parliamentary elections, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to media restrictions.

Twelve of the OSCE observers are on the core team list while the others will monitor announcements of the outcome of the elections at election-related institutions in provinces.

Some OSCE observers held talks with opposition groups both in the capital Ankara and Istanbul and advised them on how they could cast doubt over the outcome of the elections, such as questioning the results, the sources said.

‘Calls for wide-ranging demonstrations’

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

Also, the sources said some OSCE observers held meetings with officials of foreign missions in Turkey.

As part of the decisions taken in the meetings, the observers would make efforts using famous people and names known to the public to reinforce this “shady perception”.

The sources also learned that some OSCE observers openly support the PKK terrorist organization.

Additionally, some OSCE observers have reportedly requested to visit some institutions involved in the elections and planned to make statements calling them “shady” after the visits.

Following last year's referendum on constitutional changes, OSCE officials criticized the vote, saying it was made on "unequal conditions".

OSCE representatives

Among the OSCE representatives who observed previous elections, the sources determined that some had been mentioned in the PKK terrorist organization’s circles and had personally carried out terrorist activities.

The OSCE is among the institutions that back the PKK the most in Europe.

Meanwhile, German lawmaker Andrej Hunko and Swedish MP Jabar Amin wanted to follow Turkey’s elections but were refused entry.

Turkish authorities contacted Hunko as he boarded an Ankara-bound flight in Vienna and informed him that Turkey did not want him to set foot on Turkish soil and that he would have to return on the next flight. Hunko disembarked from the plane and canceled his visit.

Officials said Hunko had run several campaigns to remove the PKK from a German list of terrorist organizations and had shared photos of himself on social media taken with PKK flags.

Hunko had also visited Turkey during last year’s constitutional referendum as an OSCE election observer.

But instead of behaving as an impartial observer, he participated in several meetings with the aim of influencing Turkish citizens to cast a 'No' vote in the referendum.

Amin is also known for his anti-Turkey activities.

The Swedish lawmaker, who could not be reached prior to his departure for Turkey, was informed after he arrived in Istanbul that he would not be allowed to enter Turkey as he lacked the impartiality required to function as an election observer.

He headed back home on a return flight.

Interim report criticized

The OSCE published an interim report on June 15 about the upcoming elections in Turkey in which it expressed support for propaganda organizations that were closed down by Turkish authorities due to their publications supporting The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and the PKK.

The OSCE Election Observation Mission, headed by Ambassador Audrey Glover, who officially started in her new position on May 24, said the Supreme Election Council (YSK) is the sole decision-making body for the election process and that political parties or voters cannot resort to judgments against the decisions of the YSK.

OSCE’s referendum report

The OSCE issued a similar report after the April 16, 2017 referendum, saying the elections did not take place in a “democratic environment”.

Ankara slammed the report and expressed strong doubts over its impartiality.

“We cannot allow some institutions and states, especially the European Union, to question the democracy of our country through the results of April 16 referendum,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in response to the report.