COPENHAGEN, 19 October 2015 – OSCE parliamentarians will observe the upcoming early parliamentary elections in Turkey and provide leadership for the OSCE's short-term observer mission.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ivica Dacic has designated Ignacio Sanchez Amor (MP, Spain) as Special Co-ordinator to lead the short-term OSCE observer mission for the 1 November vote. 

Margareta Cederfelt (MP, Sweden) will serve as Head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Delegation, which will include approximately 40 MPs from nearly 20 OSCE participating States.

Just over four months ago, my fellows OSCE parliamentarians and I were in Turkey for elections that were vibrant, but tainted by restrictions to media freedom and other issues of concern. This time, we hope to observe a pluralistic and hard-fought campaign once again, along with improvements in the areas we highlighted. We stand with Turkey as it faces genuine security concerns, which must not be allowed to interfere with these elections. I expect the Turkish authorities to make every effort to ensure that voters, officials and premises of all political groups feel safe and are safe during the campaign and as they cast their ballots on election day. Ignacio Sanchez Amor (MP, Spain)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called early parliamentary elections in late August following the failure of talks aimed at forming a governing coalition.

OSCE parliamentarians will participate in several days of briefings in Ankara before deploying to polling stations in several regions across Turkey for election day observation. They will work closely with observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) and in co-ordination with colleagues from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The mission will assess the elections against democratic commitments contained in the OSCE’s 1990 Copenhagen Document.

Special Co-ordinator Sanchez Amor is Deputy Head of the Spanish Delegation to the Assembly. He served as Head of the Assembly’s Delegation of observers for the June 2015 elections in Turkey and has also observed votes in Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Tajikistan and Ukraine.

Margareta Cederfelt, who will lead the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Delegation of observers, serves as the Rapporteur of the Assembly’s Committee on Political Affairs and Security. She has monitored more than 20 votes across the OSCE area, including Turkey’s parliamentary elections this June.

OSCE PA Secretary General Spencer Oliver will join Director of Elections Andreas Baker and other OSCE PA staff in organizing the observation mission.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has observed parliamentary elections in Turkey in 2011 and June 2015, as well as the presidential election in 2014.

Since 1993, more than 5,000 OSCE parliamentarians and staff have observed nearly 150 different elections in more than 30 countries. For more information about the OSCE PA's election monitoring work, click here. 

*article courtesy of Mrs. Margareta Cederfelt, MP (Sweden)