Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Erdogan’s rivals protest balloting
Turkish voters ill-informed, European election-monitor says
ISTANBUL — A vote to grant new powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sparked fresh arguments Monday in a divided Turkey, as opposition parties called for the annulment of the referendum results and Erdogan insisted the debate over the outcome should stop.
A sharply worded report Monday by international monitors said the referendum “fell short” of full adherence to international standards. It criticized numerous aspects of the vote, including a change to the ballot-counting procedures that “removed an important safeguard.”
By a razor-thin margin, voters on Sunday approved constitutional changes that will transform Turkey’s system of government, abolishing the post of prime minister and shifting from a parliamentary system. The new model strengthens the clout of the presidency just eight months after a coup attempt aimed at toppling Erdogan’s government.
Changes to the constitution would allow Erdogan, 63, who served as prime minister for 11 years before becoming president, to run for re-election in 2019 and serve two terms that would end in 2029.
The outcome has laid bare deep political divisions in Turkey and could have wider resonance in everything from Turkey’s decades-old bid for membership in the European Union and Turkish interactions in NATO to the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State in neighboring Syria.
Late Sunday, Erdogan’s supporters flooded streets in flag-waving celebrations, his opponents marched with clanging pots in protest and political parties yelled foul at the result.
In a Monday evening speech at the presidential palace in Ankara, Erdogan dismissed the protesters as well as the opposition party complaints, saying the “debate about this issue is now over.” And he warned the European observers who had criticized the election to “know your limits” as they prepared their final report, which he also dismissed in advance.
“We will not see it, we will not hear it, we will not accept it,” he said, as a crowd cheered. A few hours away, in rainy Istanbul, for a second night, the pot-clanging protesters prepared to take to the streets.
Holding banners reading “No, We will win” and chanting “thief, murderer, Erdogan,” demonstrators marched through the neighborhoods of Besiktas on the European side of Istanbul and Kadikoy on the Asian side.
The primary opposition complaint is that, as voting was underway, Turkey’s election board decided to accept ballots that were not stamped with an official seal, in contravention of the law. Election board officials have said they were trying to avoid suppressing votes and that the decision was not unprecedented in Turkey’s elections.
Bulent Tezcan, deputy leader of the Republican People’s Party, Turkey’s main opposition party, said Monday that “only one decision” could calm the nation — “for the referendum to be canceled by the Supreme Election Board.”
By accepting unstamped ballots, the election board “changed the rules of the game halfway through the match,” he said.
The chairman of the election commission, Sadi Guven, hit back at criticism of the voting process and the decision to count the unstamped ballots.
He said there was nothing wrong with the ballots and that the stamps had not been placed due to “mistakes by the polling station workers.” There was no fraud, he said.
The criticism by the European observers went beyond the voting irregularities, though, and was more broadly critical of the government’s conduct in the run-up to the referendum. The preliminary report by the observers, from a joint mission by the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said the referendum took place on an “unlevel playing field and the two sides of the campaign did not have equal opportunities.”
Erdogan’s opponents had been making the same charge for months. A government crackdown after the failed coup in July led to the arrests of prominent opposition politicians and prosecutions of journalists critical of the government.
As a result, the election observers said, “one side’s dominance in the coverage and restrictions on the media reduced voters’ access to a plurality of views.”
The head of the election mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said voters were left ill-informed about what they were voting on, in part because of the unfair allocation of media time and information on the content of the vote.
“The state took no steps to ensure voters were provided with impartial information,” said Tana de Zulueta, adding that Erdogan’s side was given “preferential treatment” by the media.
Civil society was unable to properly participate in the referendum campaign and the state of emergency put in place after a failed coup attempt last year was used to restrict the freedom of assembly and expression, the European Council mission said.
“Under the state of emergency put in place after the July 2016 failed coup attempt, fundamental freedoms essential to a genuinely democratic process were curtailed,” it added.
On Monday, Turkey’s Council of Ministers decided to extend the state of emergency for a further three months.
Government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus made the announcement, saying the extension would go into effect Wednesday, when the previous state of emergency is to expire. The decision will now go to parliament for approval.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement accused the observers of having “disregarded the principles of objectivity,” calling the report a reflection of a “biased” approach.
Before the referendum, Erdogan had leveled sharp criticism against Europe — including labeling some leaders as Nazis — for halting political events among the millions of Turks living on the continent.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the “tight outcome of the referendum shows how deeply split Turkish society is” and appealed for Turkish leaders to seek “respectful dialogue” with opposition groups. “Erdogan personally needs to take on a great responsibility,” she said.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner also acknowledged the claims by Turkey’s opposition and appealed to the Turkish government to protect basic rights.