Turkey referendum was ‘unlevel playing field’, monitors warn

International election monitors have delivered a scathing verdict on the conduct of Turkey’s referendum, warning that it was held on an “unlevel playing field”.

The monitors – a partnership of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe – said that the ‘yes’ campaign dominated media coverage, that voters were not provided with adequate information, that opposition voices were muzzled and that the rules were changed at the last minute.

“The campaign rhetoric was tarnished by some senior official equating No supporters with terrorist sympathisers, and in numerous cases No supporters faced police interventions and violent scuffles at their events,” the monitors’ initial report reads.

“The legal framework remained inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic referendum.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s push for an executive presidency succeeded with 51.4% of the electorate voting for it on Sunday. However, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has demanded a recount of 60% of the votes and its deputy head has called for the result to be annulled altogether.

The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) has also challenged the voters, warning that a decision by electoral officers to allow voting papers without official stamps to be counted opened the way for fraud.

However, the head of Turkey’s electoral body, Sadi Guven, said the unstamped papers had been produced by the High Electoral Board and were valid. He said that a similar procedure had been used in the past.