A street vendor looks at newspapers next to an election campaign poster for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the day after the general election in Istanbul, Turkey, May 15, 2023. EPA, ERDEM SAHIN
The elections in Turkey continue to worry politicians and the media in Germany, where the largest Turkish diaspora lives.
More than 1.5 million citizens in Germany had the right to vote and almost half of them did so, recording a record turnout. Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP received in Germany a share of 64.9%.
Agriculture Minister Cem Ecdemir is pessimistic about the future of human rights in Turkey, regardless of who ultimately wins the elections, speaking of a “country deeply divided”.
Even if Tayyip Erdogan’s rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu wins, “he will find a deeply divided country,” Etzdemir, himself of Turkish origin, told Bavarian Radio, noting that the parliamentary elections are shaping a National Assembly that is more conservative than ever. . “That is sure not good news for Women rightsof LGBT, for Human rights, for the rights of minorities,” warned the Minister of Agrarian Economy. Furthermore, he said, the fact that the ultra-nationalist Sinan Ocan became the regulator “shows how far Turkey has moved to the right.”
Mr. Ecedemir, however, clarified that he is not aware of any incident of possible electoral manipulation, however he clarified that there were no fair conditions for the opposition during the pre-electoral period. “Justice means having access to the media. There is no discussion about it,” she said.
Mr. Ecdemir also attributed the high percentages that Tayyip Erdoğan receives in Germany to the integration problems of the Turkish minority, while he also blamed the German parties, which on the one hand love the democrats, but on the other hand support the ultra-nationalist, fundamentalist positions.
“The elections may have been free, but they were not fair,” the chairman of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael Roth (SPD), told German television channel ZDF 2, explaining that “all important state institutions, including the media, are largely controlled by Erdogan and his regime.” Türkiye is “for ten years on the road to an authoritarian system and for those who want a democratic Türkiye, the result is one hard landingadded Mr. Roth.
The deputy of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU), Serap Guler, commented that Tayyip Erdogan suffered a “loss of prestige” in yesterday’s elections, since, as he wrote in a post on Twitter, “a few days ago a second round seemed absurd and unthinkable.” “As he has” the entire state and the media apparatus on his side, ” this result is equal to defeat”he said.
Greens co-chair Ricarda Lang called on German citizens of Turkish origin to back Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the second round and defended her party’s choice to take a clear line against Tayyip Erdogan. “I think it is right that the Greens take a position in situations like this and say clearly that we are on the side of democracy,” Lange told RTL/n-tv.
The events surrounding the Turkish elections are still covered today by all the German media, which speak of a “thriller” and a “war of nerves”.
BILD refers to the “strong third” of yesterday’s match, Sinan Ocan: “He will give away this underdog victory for Erdogan?”, writes the newspaper. The private news channel n-tv comments on the fall of the pound and points out that “investors expected a victory for the opposition”, which is why “the financial market is in shock.”
The presidential election “is not just about who rules the country, but also about how much political influence they will have over the economy and the central bank, and Erdogan, a darling of foreign investors during the first phase of his term, has eroded independence. of the central bank”, reports n-tv. “distressing” the WELT newspaper characterizes the result in an article and talks about “great and impressive victory” by Tayyip Erdogan. “Apparently, a significant number of Turks see him as a savior, despite the devastating number of victims,” the newspaper continues. The economic Handelsblatt in his analysis explains that many Turkish opinion institutes They were wrong in their calculations. “because they are associated with specific parties” and estimates that the result favors the current president. “Nor was it an apotheosis of democracy.” is the headline of Die Zeit newspaper, which points out that in many constituencies the count and observers have been obstructed and the harassment of the opposition is expected to continue in the second round.”
With information from APE – BEE, Fai Karavitis
Berlin Germany
Erdogan blocked the counting of the presidential elections to stay first: But he won with his… friends clearly the parliamentarians [πίνακες, χάρτες]
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