Reactions to YSK decision continue
Reactions to YSK decision continue
While BDP and excluded independent candidates are rushing to provide the High Elections Board (YSK) with the papers it said it needs, reactions and comments about the decision to exclude 12 independent candidates from the 12 June elections keep pouring through.
Last night Egemen Baðýþ, Turkey’s chief EU negotiator, from Brussels said that “This is an issue we will face in the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. This decision does not befit Turkey. Neither the ruling party nor the opposition parties will gain points from such a move.” Baðýþ criticized efforts to tie the YSK decision to the AK Party government. “This decision belongs to the YSK alone. We hope Turkey will overcome this difficulty as it has overcome many such difficulties in the past.”
AK Party Deputy Chairman Ömer Çelik said his party was against all decisions that restricted participation in the political process, but reacted angrily to statements associating the decision with the government. “If this is a conspiracy, then the BDP is more than happy about this. If they want to really solve the Kurdish problem, what they should do is not point to terrorism as the remedy but increase the demand for democracy.”
BDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaþ reiterated that “We have documents indicating that our colleagues have no criminal record. The political consequences of this ruling will be dire. This decision means war. We will not participate in a non-democratic election.”
It is clearly very controversial the decision to exclude Gultan Kýþanak and Sebahat Tuncel who were found eligible to run in the 2007 elections. What struck has at least 'strange' is that the two BDP MP are highly traceable and so if the YSK really felt they needed extra documents they could have simply asked the deputies to hand them in.
Demirtaþ said that “There is a political conspiracy, a horrifying operation. This is a decision of a new war in Turkey. The public should be absolutely aware that there is no legal basis for this decision. There is no way for us now to make new nominations. Political parties do have that option, but independents do not. We are also victims of the election barrier.”
Opposition CHP Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrýkulu said the decision was shameful and an “expression of illegality.” He said: “This decision has shown the challenges of solving problems within the boundaries of law and democracy. The 10 percent election barrier already restricts representativeness [of the BDP] and now there is this decision. The major responsibility for this lies with the AK Party government, which has not made any move concerning the Law on Political Parties and the election barrier for the past nine years.”
Demonstrations went on through the night in many cities and are on in the early hours of this morning.
Last night Egemen Baðýþ, Turkey’s chief EU negotiator, from Brussels said that “This is an issue we will face in the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. This decision does not befit Turkey. Neither the ruling party nor the opposition parties will gain points from such a move.” Baðýþ criticized efforts to tie the YSK decision to the AK Party government. “This decision belongs to the YSK alone. We hope Turkey will overcome this difficulty as it has overcome many such difficulties in the past.”
AK Party Deputy Chairman Ömer Çelik said his party was against all decisions that restricted participation in the political process, but reacted angrily to statements associating the decision with the government. “If this is a conspiracy, then the BDP is more than happy about this. If they want to really solve the Kurdish problem, what they should do is not point to terrorism as the remedy but increase the demand for democracy.”
BDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaþ reiterated that “We have documents indicating that our colleagues have no criminal record. The political consequences of this ruling will be dire. This decision means war. We will not participate in a non-democratic election.”
It is clearly very controversial the decision to exclude Gultan Kýþanak and Sebahat Tuncel who were found eligible to run in the 2007 elections. What struck has at least 'strange' is that the two BDP MP are highly traceable and so if the YSK really felt they needed extra documents they could have simply asked the deputies to hand them in.
Demirtaþ said that “There is a political conspiracy, a horrifying operation. This is a decision of a new war in Turkey. The public should be absolutely aware that there is no legal basis for this decision. There is no way for us now to make new nominations. Political parties do have that option, but independents do not. We are also victims of the election barrier.”
Opposition CHP Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrýkulu said the decision was shameful and an “expression of illegality.” He said: “This decision has shown the challenges of solving problems within the boundaries of law and democracy. The 10 percent election barrier already restricts representativeness [of the BDP] and now there is this decision. The major responsibility for this lies with the AK Party government, which has not made any move concerning the Law on Political Parties and the election barrier for the past nine years.”
Demonstrations went on through the night in many cities and are on in the early hours of this morning.
