2023-05-12 20:23:06
Brussels/Ankara. Many political delegations from Europe went to Turkey to watch the presidential and general election process, which will be held on 14 May, and especially the voting process on Sunday. Institutions such as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have also sent the most comprehensive monitoring missions. The PACE sent a team of 33 people to Turkey for the elections under the chairmanship of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) Federal Parliament deputy Frank Schwabe. OSCE will also observe the elections on the spot, at the invitation of the Turkish authorities.
The delegation headed by Norwegian diplomat Jan Petersen is in Turkey with a total of 350 observers. According to information obtained by VOA Turkish, two Federal Parliament deputies from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is anti-immigrant and anti-Islam, are among the observers. Accordingly, Stefan Keuter and Malte Kaufmann, who participated in the election observation mission, will go to the observation site in Van, in Eastern Anatolia, after attending the election briefing held today in Ankara. Their on-site observations on Sunday will be included in the OSCE’s final report on the election.
In the statements they made before they went to Turkey, both politicians emphasized the importance of AfD parliamentarians participating in the election as observers. Stefan Keuter “Especially in this period, it is important that AFD is represented in this delegation” I mean, “The election is also attracting a lot of attention in Germany. I will intensely observe the election and related processes and thus contribute to the realization of a free, secret and equal election in Turkey.” made a statement.
Turkey’s stabilization is also important for Europe
Malte Kaufmann stated that the OSCE sending more than a hundred parliamentary election observers to Turkey shows the geostrategic importance of the country for Europe and “The condition of social and economic prosperity for Turkey is holding free and fair elections, protecting freedom of the press and fundamental rights, and democracy. This contributes to the stabilization of the entire region. I am delighted to be able to contribute to this as a member of the OSCE Election Observation Commission” said.
Reuter, one of the aforementioned deputies, called on the Federal Government on September 4, 2020, asking for a review of relations with Turkey and said, “Turkey’s internal political conflicts should not be conducted on German soil. In particular, the Turkish government should not be allowed to influence people of Turkish origin living in Germany. The behavior of the President of Türkiye is against compliance with a free and democratic society,” he said.
The AfD especially emphasizes anti-immigration, xenophobia and Islamophobia in its party program and election campaigns. Leaders of the party made harsh statements about Turkey’s possible membership to the European Union (EU) in the past. AfD’s parliamentary group, in a proposal submitted to the Bundestag in 2019, stated that Turkey’s EU accession negotiations “Immediate stop” had raised his request.
AfD rises in polls
The AfD, which shone with the influx of refugees in 2015 and took place in the state assemblies and the Bundestag in the past years by fueling fears over immigrants and anti-Islam, is getting stronger according to the latest polls in Germany.
According to the latest opinion polls, the AfD’s current share of votes has increased to 17 percent, having received 10.3 percent of the total votes in the general elections held on September 26, 2021. With this position, the party is ahead of the Greens in the government and ranks second after the Christian Democratic Union CDU/CSU, which is in the 28 percent band, with the same vote rate as the SPD. The AfD is expected to increase its strength even more in the coming months, as the number of asylum seekers has increased again in Germany. (yenivatan.at)
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