Amid the Supreme Election Committee (YSK) decision to redo the elections in Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a statement on Tuesday, expressing that they expect the election process to continue in accordance with the democratic values since it would benefit to all. Underlining the expectation for the polls to be handled in a free, fair and transparent environment, the U.S. said that a healthy Turkish democracy would serve the benefit of not only Turkey but also all of its allies, including the U.S. The statement emphasized that democratic elections would assist an atmosphere that is a stable, wealthy and trustworthy alliance.
In the aftermath of YSK's decision, the Western world, particularly EU, has taken up an attitude that is unfair towards Turkey with plenty of criticism. As a reaction to this criticism, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, addressing a joint news conference alongside his Kyrgyz counterpart Chingiz Aidarbekov, said on Tuesday that there were some do-over elections in the world history, offering the 2016 Austrian presidential election as an example.
"In 2016, the presidential election in Austria was cancelled and held again. Why was it cancelled? Once you look at its reason, it was quite similar to Istanbul polls [issues] as unauthorized persons counted the votes in ballot boxes," Çavuşoğlu said in Ankara.
"When the elections were held in Austria again with the same purposes, they would be democratic and transparent. Everyone respects the Austrian ruling about its do-over elections. But when the YSK in Turkey, a high judicial body, took a decision on the same grounds, it would be called unlawful and anti-democratic," he said.
Turkey doesn't give credit to this kind of "double standards and impositions," Çavuşoğlu added.
In addition, Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey cares about EU officials' remarks about Istanbul polls as they wish a "free, fair and transparent election process."
He added that Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) wants the same and that is why it appealed against the March 31 election results.
"Ensuring a free, fair and transparent election process is essential to any democracy and is at the heart of the European Union's relations with Turkey," EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said in a joint statement on Monday.
