Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday slammed a statement issued the same day by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) that criticized Turkey’s referendum for lacking international standards and said Turkey would not recognize the report.
Speaking during an address to his supporters at the presidential palace in Ankara on Monday, Erdoğan said: “First of all know yourself [OSCE]. We will neither accept nor recognize a report by you. We will continue on our own way.”
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry also slammed the OSCE in a statement on Monday, saying the OSCE’s reflections on the referendum results employ a biased and prejudiced approach and are also denunciatory.
The foreign ministry said it was “unacceptable” to say that the poll fell short of international standards.
“.., the OSCE statement shows that the delegation came to Turkey with prejudices and it is also far from being impartial and reflects its prejudicial approach,” the foreign ministry said.
In a statement on Monday, the joint mission of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said the April 16 constitutional referendum in Turkey was contested on an unlevel playing field and that the two sides in the campaign did not have equal opportunities.
“A state of emergency should never be used to undermine the rule of law,” the OSCE statement said.
The OSCE also said, in some cases, access for ODIHR observers during the opening and voting in polling stations was either denied or limited.