 |
 |
| The Blue Mosque in Istanbul. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Report from Turkey’s Parliamentary Elections 3rd November 2002. Published by Norwegian Helsinki Committee and Norwegian Council for the Rights of the Kurdish People.
Preface
As human rights NGOs our two organisations have followed the development of Turkey for several years, albeit from different perspectives. We have shared concerns for human rights and democracy in Turkey, and we have tried to help the development within our limited capacities.
The Norwegian Council for the Rights of the Kurds aims at informing the Norwegian public about the situation of Kurdish people, and to move Norwegian authorities into action to protect persons of Kurdish decent from the grave human rights violations that too often takes place in the various states inhabited by Kurds. Turkey is no exception.
The Norwegian Helsinki Committee has developed contacts with Turkish NGOs, academics and other concerned persons in Turkey that work for human rights. It has undertaken fact-finding missions and has reported on the situation within the field of freedom of religion. Presently the committee co-operates with the Human Rights Foundation on projects.
We hope that the present report will provide a useful background to the interested reader, foremost to Turkish authorities and others who monitor human rights and democracy in Turkey. We also believe the report will help the build up of an institutional memory of our two organisations and that of other entities committed to election observation.
These elections brought tremendous political change, as the Justice and Development Party (AKP) won a landslide victory; it received 34 percent of the vote and took 363 seats. The Republican People's Party got 19 percent of the vote and gained 178 seats. The last nine seats of the new national assembly are filled with Independent candidates. The parties that have constituted Turkey’s political elite over the last decades did not gain one single seat.
These political changes, and the ongoing discussion on how to schedule Turkey’s EU-accession process provides more possibilities for outside influence on Turkey’s policies on human rights and democracy. It is vital that governments and NGOs throughout Europe and beyond utilise the present window of opportunity. We hope the EU will not forget the unsolved problems in Turkey and that the human rights community serve its purpose by reminding of the shortcoming on every possible occasion. This report is a modest contribution to that process.
We are grateful to all those who assisted the delegation in its work. In particular we would like to mention the Human Rights Association and Human Rights Foundation of Turkey. We would also like to thank the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE.
All observers of the Norwegian team have contributed with their observations and views to the content of this report. It has been edited by Ole B Lilleås of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.
Oslo, February 2003
Bjørn Engesland
Secretary General
Norwegian Helsinki Committee
Beate Slydal
Director of the
Norwegian Council for the Rights of the Kurdish people
|
