European countries are greatly interested in the upcoming elections in Turkey on June 24. Some European media outlets are so keen on the elections that they are giving more coverage to the Turkish elections than their own national elections. Also, it is a fact that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appears on European media more than any other European politician. European citizens who can hardly name their own politicians even know Erdoğan.

Many European politicians, authorities, journalists and nongovernmental organization representatives are unremittingly talking and writing about Turkish elections as if they have no other problems. However, Europe is confronted with many problems.

We remember the Maltese woman journalist who was assassinated because she was working on a corruption case. The unidentified perpetrators are still at large. Also, we remember the Athens mayor who could barely escape being lynched by a fascist Greek group only recently. In terms of economy, we already know that a number of EU countries are suffering serious financial difficulties.

According to the European Commission's 2018 forecasts, the leading EU states that have the biggest amounts of debt include countries like Portugal, France and Britain along with Greece, who is already known for its economic problems.

The average debt of EU countries corresponds to 81 percent of their annual gross domestic product (GDP). The gross public debt of Greece comprises 178 percent of its GDP. The economic problems Greece has been tackling since 2008 still occupy the agendas of the EU. The debts of many EU countries are higher than their GDP. According to a 2018 report by the European Commission, Italy's gross public debt is expected to be at around 130 percent of its GDP. Portugal is the third country on the list with 122.5 percent. Also, France and Britain are in the higher ranks.

While Europe confronts many problems that are growing every day such as unemployment, drug abuse and racism, European politicians seem to be only concerned about Turkey, which perturbs European citizens.

A poll conducted across the EU with only a year left for the European Parliamentary elections shows that the citizens have growing concerns about the EU. In the poll, which was conducted in 28 EU countries by surveying 28,000 citizens face-to-face, 12 percent of the participants defined the EU as a bad entity whereas 25 percent defined it as neither good nor bad, and only 60 percent referred to the EU as a positive entity. The number of people not pleased with the EU or adopting Euro-skeptical stances is constantly growing.

While the 56 percent of the participants believe in change, they think that this change will be made by populist parties that address the electorate with racist slogans and agendas. Roughly 53 percent of the participants think that new political parties or movements can offer new solutions to the problems. So, the number of people expecting positive steps from the Greens and the Left is in decline while the newly-founded parties mostly have far-right or racist stances. The poll results are currently being affirmed in Italy.

Meanwhile, the date of the 2019 European Parliamentary elections was set as May 23-26, during which European Parliament members and the European Commission president will be elected. The citizens of 27 countries will directly elect the 705 European Parliament members and indirectly opt for the European Commission president.

In fact, this election is very similar to our elections that will mark the beginning of a new system of government. But there is one significant difference: the polls conducted across the EU reveal that 50 percent of EU citizens show no interest in the elections. In view of this, Antonio Tajani, the president of the European Parliament, expressed that everyone must be informed about the elections that will determine the future of the continent.

So, in a nutshell, EU citizens do not trust their own administrations and increasingly look to newly-emerging populist parties due to their ineffective officials who could not solve the existing problems.

Fortunately, Turkey does not have such a problem. The only problem Turkey deals with is the outside attempts to manipulate its elections. These politicians, who have become symbols of failure in their own countries, are also doomed to fail in their attempts regarding Turkey. Their support to the dissident candidates such as Muharrem İnce, Meral Akşener and Temel Karamollaoğlu are in vain. Considering the past of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), it is obvious that the unsuccessful profiles of the former chairmen Deniz Baykal and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu can compete with the failing officials in Europe in terms of ineffectiveness.

June 24 will mark one difference for European politicians. Whereas far-right and racist parties are rising in Europe, a modern and social party who values democracy and EU values will win in Turkey. The country will again celebrate the victory of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Erdoğan. Also, the latest experiences showed that Turkey attaches more importance to EU values than EU countries. The case of Syrian refugees is the primary example proving this point.

The bottom line is the Turkish electorate is pleased with their president and government.