BY CAN DUNDAR
MILLIYET- In Strasbourg last week I met with Yavuz Mildon, president of the Council of Europe's (CoE) Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. This May Turkey took the helm of the congress, one of the CoE's most important organs. The congress monitors local administrations and elections, just like the Parliamentarian Assembly of the Council of Europe's (PACE) Audit Committee follows countries and general elections in Europe. After last year's general elections, PACE criticized Turkey's 10 percent threshold. Now that local elections are looming, the spotlight is on the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. When I met with Mildon and his German assistant, I asked them if they would send an observer to the local elections. They looked at each other and smiled, saying this depends if Turkey invites the group. Clearly, they have plans on the issue.
Mildon is in a tight spot. Mildon, a provincial Canakkale council member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), has been working for the CoE since 1995, and managed to become the congress' first Turkish president. It has followed numerous elections in new democracies in Balkan and Caucasian countries, in Albania, Moldova, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Armenia, and has written reports and issued warnings. Mildon's difficulty stems from allegations which might cast doubt on the local elections held in the president's country. Amid opposition allegations of foul play, people have been talking about 6 million new voters reportedly added to the electoral rolls since last year. I asked if the CoE would take a stand on this. Mildon said that he wouldn't want Turkey to go through an election audit, as its election and voter registration systems are stronger than those in many European democracies, lamenting how the issue has emerged. Mildon added that the electoral rolls are the most important issue for election observers, so the reports of 6 million new voters are being watched closely. Stating that Europe can't ignore fraud allegations, he said that Turkey should clear this up as soon as possible.
The congress sends observers when the country in question invites it, so the lack of an invitation causes problems. What's more, Turkey is already on the congress' radar due to recent incidents in the southeast. The mayor and council members of Diyarbakir's Sur district were removed from office on charges that the local government was conducting itself in more than one language, as Turkey only has one official language, Turkish. Two CoE officials will visit early next year to look at the issue. Based on what they find, a critical resolution may be issued. Amid all this, if a complaint is made about the 6 million new voters, observers might come from Europe, and a pall might be cast over our local elections. I don't know if anybody in Ankara cares about this, but shady elections aren't very good in the West, either.