OSCE: Journalists Apply Auto-Censorship

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) sent a delegation to Turkey to observe the parliamentary elections last Sunday (12 June). The delegation announced that the elections were transparent and done in a secure environment. It was said that the elections were managed well. Even though, the delegation stated that Turkey needed to advance freedoms in the country to achieve more democracy.

The OSCE has been technically observing elections in Turkey since 1992. This time, the organization additionally sent a delegation that consisted of 34 politicians as representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly. Divided in four groups, they monitored the election process in Istanbul and Izmir in the west, Diyarbakır in the south-east and Ankara as the capital of Turkey in central Anatolia.

According to Hürriyet newspaper, the parliamentarians' visit to the Saint Michel High School that served as a poll office in Şişli/Istanbul caused minor tensions. The presiding officers were sceptic about the badges given to the European politicians by the Supreme Elections Board (YSK) that entitled them to observe the elections all over Turkey. After extensive phone calls of the officers, the delegation was eventually allowed into the poll office.

Delegation member Çoşkun Çörüz, a Dutch Christian democrat, said that this was the only problem they encountered during their visits to dozens of schools. Çörüz noted, "They probably thought there was an interference from outside because they had not been informed about our duty. There would not have been a problem if they had been informed properly. It was our only duty to write a report about transparency and a secure environment during the elections. We did not find any problems at the poll offices we visited".

"Journalists apply auto-censorship"

The international observers indicated that the elections showed pluralism but at the same time the delegation called on the Turkish government to broaden freedom of thought and to "establish a media distant of political pressure".

Pia Christmas-Moeller, head of the OSCE Monitoring Delegation, pointed out, "We encountered examples of auto-censorship in some meetings we had with journalists. Journalists apply auto-censorship when they do not consider themselves in a safe environment".

The delegation also criticized the ten-percent electoral threshold in Turkey since it prevents many parties from entering the parliament and thus reduces the parliament's ability of representation. (AS/VK)