OSCE to Send Observers to June 24 Elections

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The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has made a statement regarding the Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Turkey on June 24, 2018.

In the statement, it has been announced that a main committee consisting of the OSCE member experts and 28 long-term observers and an observer team of 350 people will be appointed to monitor the elections in Turkey.

The OSCE has also stated that the committee will go to Turkey after it has received the invitation of the government of Turkey.

The OSCE criticized the referendum on April 16

The OSCE, which also monitored the Constitutional Amendment Referendum on April 16, 2017, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe criticized the referendum on the ground that "it was not held under equal circumstances."

The committee of international observers were skeptical of whether the referendum was conducted in compliance with legal standards and emphasized that the decision of the Supreme Election Council which considered unsealed ballet papers to be valid eliminated an important guarantee.

The referendum on April 16, 2017 was conducted under the State of Emergency conditions, just as the Presidential and Parliamentary elections will be on June 24, 2018. (PT/SD)