President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Says Turkish Election ‘Should Be Respected By The Whole World’; International Observers Say Turkish Election Campaign Was Unfair

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the election results on Nov. 1 deserve respect amid the alleged accusations of some international monitors that the Turkish election campaign was unfair.

"The final decisive actor in our political world is the national will, and yesterday on 1 November, the national will favored stability," the Turkish president said, as noted by The Guardian Nov. 2.

After that, Erdoğan turned his attention to the international media for castigating his ruling.

"Why is the world media taking such a close interest in Turkey while ignoring their own countries? Why don't they respect the national will? The national will elected me by 52%. They still have not respected that fact," the Turkish president said.

He went on, "Now a party with some 50% in Turkey has attained power ... This should be respected by the whole world, but I have not seen such maturity."

Reuters reported that the results on Nov. 1 revealed that AK Party surpassed main opposition CH Party. The website also noted that the result was "a personal triumph" for Erdoğan who founded AKP and had profiled its executive committee, as well as its parliamentary candidates.

Meanwhile, Swiss head of the mission representing the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) branded the Turkish election campaign as unfair.

"This campaign was unfair and characterized by too much violence and fear," Andreas Gross said.

Some critics also accused the Turkish president for allegedly restoring fear and violence to limit support for the HDP. However, the government turned down the allegations, as reported by BBC News.

"Physical attacks on party members, as well as the significant security concerns, particularly in the south-east... imposed restrictions on the ability to campaign." OSCE observer mission head Ignacio Sanchez Amor said in a dispatch.

Amor noted that the pressure on journalists was a main concern. A few days before the election, Turkish police raided the headquarters of Koza-Ipek media group connected to US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas also said that the Turkish election was not "a fair or equal election."