Press release
30 May 2023
EU Turkey
Civic Commission
CONTACT:
Prof. Kariane Westrheim
Statement on the run-off election in Turkey
Mobil: 004797642088
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was declared the winner of the run-off election, which
was neither free nor fair. He won by a narrow margin. His challenger Kemal
Kılıçdaroğlu achieved very high vote shares especially in the Kurdish provinces,
despite the deep nationalist tones. The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and
The Green Left Party (YSP) had called for his election in order to pave a way
out of autocracy.
CHAIR
•
KARIANE WESTRHEIM, Professor at
University of Bergen, Norway
SECRETARY GENERAL
•
MICHAEL GUNTER, Professor at
Tennessee Technological University,
US
BOARD MEMBERS
European heads of state and government did not wait to congratulate Turkey
and to express their hope for good cooperation, as did Charles Michel,
President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the
European Commission. The restraint in the run-up to the elections already
indicated that people were prepared for Erdoğan to carry on as usual.
•
DERSIM DAGDEVIREN, KURD-AKAD,
Germany
•
DR. JOOST JONGERDEN, Wageningen
University, Netherlands
•
DR. THOMAS JEFFREY MILEY,
Department of Sociology, Cambridge
University, UK
•
ESTELLA SCHMID, Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign, UK
What the country's politics will look like in the future was hinted at in Erdoğan's
speech after the election. "It is not possible for him [Selahattin Demirtaş] to get
out of prison under our rule." He will not care about European court rulings in
the future either. He will also make the refugee agreement paid even better.
The entire Middle East will continue to be marked by instability. An end to the
expansive foreign policy is not in sight.
PATRONS
•
ARCHBISHOP EMERITUS DESMOND
TUTU, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate,
South Africa
•
SHIRIN EBADI, Human Rights Lawyer
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Iran
•
BIANCA JAGGER, Council of Europe
Goodwill Ambassador, Chair of the
Bianca Jagger Human Rights
Foundation, UK
•
NOAM CHOMSKY, Laureate Professor
of Linguistics, University of Arizona
Departement of Linguistic, US
•
LEYLA ZANA, European Parliament's
Sakharov Prize for Freedom of
Thought, Rafto Prize Laureate, Turkey
•
BARONESS HELENA KENNEDY QC,
House of Lords, UK
•
CHRISTINE BLOWER, National
Education Union (NEU), International
Secretary, UK
•
MARY DAVIS, Visiting Professor of
Labour History, Royal Holloway,
University of London, UK
•
SIMON DUBBINS, UNITE International
Director, UK
•
JAMES KELMAN, Writer, UK
•
JONATHAN STEELE, Veteran foreign
correspondent and author, UK
•
DOUG NICHOLLS, General Secretary,
General Federation of Trade Unions,
UK
A clear stance is needed from Europe and its institutions for the opposition,
which has fought for change despite the strongest repression. Turkey's policy
under Erdoğan must not remain without consequences. If judgments of the
European Court of Human Rights continue to be disregarded, the Council of
Europe must take the necessary measures for violation of the convention.
Prof. Dr. Kariane Westrheim
EUTCC Chairperson
Dersim Dağdeviren
EUTCC Board member