Turkish government exerts its power on election campaign: OSCE

There is no clear separation between the Turkish government’s activities and the election campaign on the side of the government, says Ambassador Geert-Hinrich Ahrens from the OSCE The gap between Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s election campaign for the presidency and his activities as the current prime minister is vague, according to the head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which is monitoring the process.

“There is no clear separation between government activities and election campaigning on the side of the government,” said Ambassador Geert-Hinrich Ahrens of the Limited Election Observation Mission (LEOM) of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in an interview on Aug. 6.

“There are also some inconsistencies in the legal framework,” Ahrens added.  

While answering questions during the opening ceremony of the high-speed rail line between Istanbul and Ankara, the largest two cities in the country, Ahrens said, “this maybe one case where administrative sources are used for election campaigning.”

Recalling that Turks who live abroad represent a large number of people who can vote in the country’s first presidential elections, Ahrens said this was something his group had recommended.  

Commenting on the high number of additional ballot papers, Ahrens said the number was “too high.”
“What happens to the votes that were not used will be clear after election day and we will say something if needed,” he added.

18 mln extra ballots

Meanwhile, Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, joint candidate of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)...