Turkey’s presidential election caught on OSCE radar

Irregularities and controversies that forced authorities to cancel some of the March 30 local election results in Turkey have moved Europe’s security body to announce that a mission will observe Turkey’s upcoming first direct presidential election.

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) undertook a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) to Turkey between May 7 and 9 upon an official invitation from the Turkish authorities to observe the presidential election which will be held in two rounds in August.

“The majority of OSCE/ODIHR NAM interlocutors expressed a certain level of confidence in the electoral process and referenced the country’s long-standing tradition of democratic practices,” said a report, drafted after this mission and dated June 3, in its “Conclusions and Recommendations” section.

“However, they also raised particular concern with the new legal framework and its possible gaps and shortcomings and noted a recent weakening of general public confidence in the authorities, particularly following the recent local elections,” added the report.

“Some previous OSCE/ODIHR recommendations remain unaddressed and most OSCE/ODIHR NAM interlocutors stated that they would welcome an OSCE/ODIHR observation activity for the upcoming election, with some having emphasized the necessity of the OSCE/ODIHR’s longer-term presence. A number of aspects could merit attention by an OSCE/ODIHR election observation activity, including the new legal framework; campaign finance provisions; the conduct of the electoral campaign; and the work of the media,” it said.

Turkish officials in Ankara played...