The second round of the Turkish presidential elections, which resulted in the re-election of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was “free but not fair”, international observers said on Monday.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which had sent observers to ensure the fairness of the vote, on Monday condemned “the intimidation and harassment of supporters of certain opposition parties” and denounced “the inflammatory and discriminatory language used on both sides, with mutual accusations of cooperation with terrorist organisations”.
The Council of Europe, for its part, was particularly concerned about the context in which “many broadcasters did not fulfil their legal obligation of impartiality” or give “equal opportunities to the two candidates”.
Both candidates came under criticism for targeting minority groups:
“I really would like to urge…to refrain, after the campaign, from violent speeches, hate speeches against minorities,” said Frank Schwabe, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. “Whether it is LGBTIQ from one side of the political spectrum (Erdoğan), or if it’s refugees, what we, unfortunately, saw on the second round from another side of the political spectrum (Kılıçdaroğlu).”
The president’s inauguration ceremony is due to take place in Ankara on Friday, the day after the parliamentary inauguration scheduled for Thursday.
Among his priorities, President Erdoğan will have to turn around the economy and fight inflation in order to restore the population’s purchasing power. The Turkish lira plunged to record lows against the dollar on Monday on news of Erdoğan’s victory.