The Turkish referendum on constitutional amendments did not live up to the standards of the Council of Europe, its legal framework was inadequate for a genuinely democratic process, Cezar Florin Preda, head of the delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said Monday.
"The referendum took place on an unlevel playing field and the two sides of the campaign did not have equal opportunities," said Cezar Florin Preda of the joint mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
International observer mission said Turkish referendum fell short of international standards. "Late procedural changes in Turkey vote 'removed important safeguard'. The referendum did not live up to Council of Europe standards, legal framework inadequate for the democratic process," said international observers in a press conference.
Two sides of the campaign in Turkish referendum did not have equal opportunities, 'yes' campaign dominated media coverage.
Turkey's constitutional amendments referendum campaign was dominated by the "yes" camp in media coverage, OSCE observer mission sai
"The two sides did not have equal opportunities to make their case to the voters," Head of the ODIHR limited election observation mission Tana de Zulueta said.
