The parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) denounced this Monday that the Turkish authorities have denied accreditation to two of its observers for the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14.
The body has indicated that those affected are the Danish Soren Sondergaard and the Swedish Kadir Kasirga, both designated as members of the OSCE electoral observation mission ahead of the elections, in which the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, aspires to the re-election.
Thus, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has shown its "disappointment" with Ankara's decision and has warned that it "could negatively affect the work of the international observation mission."
"While we recognize the basic right of every country to control access to its polling stations, members of an election observation mission in an OSCE member country, upon invitation by the country's authorities, should be able to carry out the functions for which they have been invited", he explained.
In this regard, he stressed that "the country that has invited the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to observe (the elections) should not influence, directly or indirectly, the composition of the mission."
"We are especially disappointed that this refusal is based on statements made within the framework of their political mandate as independent parliamentarians," he criticized, before showing that he hopes that Turkey "extends appropriate support to the observers of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly ".
Erdogan, who has already confirmed that he will run for re-election, is listed as the top favorite along with Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, who is running as the unity candidate of the main opposition parties, according to several polls. The president could face his biggest challenge at the polls after two decades at the helm of the country as prime minister and then as president.
Content created and supplied by: Presstar20 (via Opera News )
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