Brussels, 03/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 3 November, European Council President Donald Tusk called on Turkey to make the necessary efforts to strengthen the rule of law, after the elections in Turkey on 1 November. The AKP party - the party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu - won the elections with 49.3% of the votes, and thus obtained 316 seats out of the parliament's 550.
In a letter congratulating Davutoglu, Tusk stated that he hoped that, on basis of the renewed trust given to Davutoglu and a new government, “every effort will now be made to build confidence in the society, strengthen the rule of law and fundamental freedoms, and engage constructively with the political opposition”. Tusk said he also hoped the peace process with the Kurds would resume “as soon as possible”, building on the “good progress” made up until last summer.
Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said that he trusted that once formed, the new government would take the initiative to address the numerous challenges facing Turkey and would build an inclusive society that also takes account of those who did not vote for the majority.
Maja Kocijancic, a spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, called on Turkey, as an EU accession candidate country, to show “the strongest commitment” possible for a “fair, transparent and inclusive electoral process”, and she stated that “freedom of the media remained an area that raises serious concern”. Kocijancic said that the EU expected the new Turkish government to follow the OSCE recommendations (the OSCE observed the Turkish elections).
In its preliminary report, the OSCE said that the Turks had been able to choose between real and strong political alternatives, but that the security environment was “difficult”, and that there had been a high number of violent incidents, including attacks on members of political parties, and on campaign staff and offices. The OSCE also stated that restrictions to media freedom remained a serious concern and had had an impact on the electoral process. Like Mogherini and European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, Tusk said that the high voter turnout rate bore witness to the Turks' strong commitment to the democratic process. The turnout rate was around 88%.
In his letter of congratulations, Tusk said that the EU was ready to support Turkey in its EU accession process, and hoped to receive a “strong and visible signal” from Turkey that it is ready to cooperate with the EU on migration, on development of bilateral relations and on accession negotiations “in a constructive and forward-looking spirit”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)