German heads election observation commission in the Türkiye
Saturday, May 06, 10:11 am: SPD member of parliament Frank Schwabe heads the Council of Europe’s monitoring commission for the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14 in Turkey. This was announced by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on Friday. Schwabe, who is also the Federal Government Commissioner for Freedom of Religion or Belief, leads a delegation of 33 members.
According to the Council of Europe, before election day in Ankara, the group will meet with the presidential candidates, the leaders of the running parties and the heads of the national electoral council, but also with representatives of the Broadcasting Council, the media and civil society.
During a preliminary visit on April 12 and 13, the election observers led by Schwabe pointed out, among other things, difficulties in the logistical organization of the vote after the earthquake in February. They also noted that several parties expressed concerns about the fairness of the elections.
In his Castrop-Rauxel constituency, Schwabe is involved, among other things, in German-Greek-Turkish town twinning. In the Council of Europe he leads the German delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly.
German-Turkish community sees high turnout
2:29 p.m.: The German-Turkish community is surprised how many eligible voters in this country have already voted. This time there are significantly more than in 2018. The federal chairman Gökay Sofuoglu suspects that this election is “an election of fate” for many new voters.
You can read more about it here:
Turkey election 2023 – high turnout: “For many it is an election of fate”
Hagel criticizes Erdogan’s election posters and demands consequences
Thursday, May 4th, 10:09: Erdogan’s election posters caused a great uproar in Nuremberg. On the posters, Erdogan calls on Turkish voters to vote for him in the May 14 election. The city of Nuremberg had approved the hanging of the posters, but the CDU is calling for crackdown on the 2017 campaign ban, which bans foreign politicians from campaigning.
Read more detailed information here:
Turkey election – Turkish election posters in Nuremberg cause an uproar – criticism from Hagel
Deniz Yücel: Erdogan’s election victory will shroud Turkey in darkness for a long time
Wednesday, May 03, 12:10 p.m.: The German-Turkish journalist and publicist Deniz Yücel sees dark times ahead for Turkey if the incumbent Turkish President Erdogan and his party win the parliamentary and presidential elections on May 14th. If Erdogan “keeps in power in one way or another, darkness will fall over the country for a long time,” said Yücel in an interview with the television station phoenix on the occasion of today’s International Press Freedom Day.
Many young, well-educated Turks who don’t really want to leave their country are determined to emigrate if Erdogan is to be in office again. “Turkey will suffer terrible bloodletting,” said Yücel with conviction. In these elections, however, the opposition has “very good chances” of winning the elections. Turkey has a long democratic tradition and he trusts that the democratic awareness of the Turkish people will mean that the regime will not have an easy time manipulating the election, said Yücel, who was arrested from February 2017 to February 2018 for alleged ” Terror propaganda” had been in Turkish custody.
According to Yücel, the example of the suppression of the free press in Russia is a good example of how Russia went “from an authoritarian regime to a dictatorship” when the attack on Ukraine began. The few niches of free reporting that still existed in Russia were eliminated when the war began. Many journalists have fled. Now even critical reports on social media are being followed.
Elections in Turkey: Deadlines for those entitled to vote in Germany
Wednesday, May 03, 11:57 am: The elections in Turkey will take place on Sunday 14 May. However, Turkish citizens who live in Germany and are entitled to vote can cast their vote earlier. But the Turks living abroad have from April 27th to May 9th Time. You can find out exactly how this works, what deadlines there are and what needs to be observed here:
Turkey election 2023 – The most important deadlines and dates for those entitled to vote in Germany
Erdogan election posters approved by the city of Nuremberg
Monday, May 1st, 3:43 p.m.: Election posters for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkish AKP have appeared in Nuremberg over the past few days, causing astonishment and criticism. On the posters, Erdogan calls on Turkish voters to vote for him in the May 14 election. The city of Nuremberg wrote on Twitter: “Due to the election campaign, 25 posters outside the old town were approved as part of a special use from April 22 to May 5.” Several media reported on the AKP posters. There was sharp criticism of the city’s decision on the Internet.
The former Green Party politician Volker Beck asked on Twitter: “Who allows something like that @nuernberg_de”. He told the “Bild” newspaper: “German politics must finally wake up: Erdogan and AKP are anti-democrats. Anyone who supports them also poisons the political climate in Germany.”
The city administration could not initially be reached by phone on Monday. On Twitter she said: “We are neutral in both the German and foreign election campaigns. Everyone has the right to hang up posters within the framework of the law.” There were no requests from other parties for such billposting. “These would also have been approved if there was no criminal content on the posters.” The city administration also wrote on Twitter: “Because of the principle of equal treatment, we are obliged to approve such posters if there is no criminal content on the posters.”
One of the posters reads above Erdogan’s photo: “Dogru zaman, dogru adam” (English: “Right time, right man”) and next to it “zamaninda oyunu kullan” (“choose in time”).
Turkish citizens living abroad who are eligible to vote have until May 9 to cast their vote in the elections. About 1.5 million Turks who are entitled to vote live in Germany.
Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu campaign for votes at large rallies
Sunday, April 30, 7:13 p.m.: Two weeks before the elections in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu campaigned for votes at mass rallies on Sunday. “Are we ready for a crushing victory?” Erdogan asked his supporters in a huge square in the capital Ankara. “On May 14, God willing, our country will remove them from the political stage,” Erdogan added, referring to Kilicdaroglu and his opposition alliance.
Erdogan made his first public appearance on Saturday after canceling several campaign dates due to illness. On Tuesday, the Turkish head of state had to cancel a live interview on television, fueling speculation about his health. According to information from those around him, Erdogan suffered from a gastrointestinal virus. For several days he did not appear directly in public, but only appeared in two video channels.
“As you know, I’ve been ill recently, and crowds in every house prayed for me,” the 69-year-old told the flag-waving crowd in Ankara on Sunday. “I try to be worthy of those prayers.”
Before his illness, Erdogan had made a large number of election campaign appearances in view of the falling poll numbers. Most polls for the May 14 presidential election put the president behind his Social Democrat challenger, Kilicdaroglu.
Kilicdaroglu held a mass rally in Izmir in western Turkey on Sunday, where Erdogan had performed to slightly fewer people on Saturday. “These elections are elections to rebuild our democracy,” Kilicdaroglu shouted to the cheering crowd. “We will bring peace to this country, I will bring brotherhood to this country.”
Kilicdaroglu leads an electoral alliance of six parties. On Friday, the pro-Kurdish HDP, which does not belong to the alliance, called for Kilicdaroglu to be elected. So far, the party has only tacitly backed Erdogan’s challenger by not nominating its own candidate for the presidential election.
