Turkey slams referendum observers for 'member with PKK links'

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has harshly slammed the international observers who participated in Turkey's constitutional referendum on April 16, after including an individual who appeared in a picture behind a flag of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The task of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), who sent a limited mission to Turkey with the Parliamentarian Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE), is to conduct a technical analysis, not a political evaluation, the minister told a news conference in Ankara on April 19. 

The minister was referring to two pictures of PACE member Andrej Hunko, whose pictures with the PKK flag and a "no" campaign poster was posted on Çavuşoğlu's Twitter account on April 18.

"The OSCE report, whether positive or negative, no longer has any reliability or reputation," he noted. 

The European body should be "objective and balanced," and they cannot not "interfere in the domestic politics" of Turkey, he stated. 

The OSCE-PACE observers said the referendum was an uneven contest that took place in unfair conditions.

They particularly noted the Supreme Election Board's (YSK) controversial 11th-hour decision to accept ballots that did not bear official stamps as valid, saying the decision undermined important safeguards against fraud.

The head of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, said they were ready to discuss Turkey's situation on April 26 if the allegations in the OSCE report prove to be true.

Çavuşoğlu said a critical report by the observers contained several mistakes and has no "value" for Ankara.

"The OSCE's report has no reliability as their observations lack objectivity and are extremely partial," he...