OECD denounces Turkey's rejection of election observers

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The OECD Parliamentary Network has criticized Turkey for rejecting the observers it had appointed to monitor the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14.

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the network said in a statement said that Turkey's actions, which could adversely affect the work of the international observation mission, had disappointed them, and that Turkey could not influence the composition of observers based on their statements as part of their "political duties."

While the OECD sent nearly 400 representatives to monitor the May 14 elections, the Parliamentary Network is sending over 100 officials.

Danish Red-Green Alliance MP Soren Sondergaard and Swedish Social Democratic MP Kadir Kasirga were not allowed to travel to Ankara.

Sondengaard said last week that he was prevented from traveling by Ankara on the grounds that he had visited the Democratic Syrian Forces (DSF), a Kurdish-led group controlling Syria's east and north, in the past.

Sondergaard said, "It is entirely true that I visited the Democratic Syrian Forces fighting against the Islamic State," and added that he was "proud" of it.

The MP, who said that the OECD had filed an official complaint in Ankara, said, "A country cannot choose parliamentarians who serve as observers. This casts a shadow over the Turkish elections and already shows that they want to keep the elections under control." (NT/VK)