DOCSLIB.ORG

Elections to the European Parliament

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Elections to the European Parliament Election-Watch.EU – wahlbeobachtung.org Elections to the European Parliament 23-26 May 2019 ELECTION-WATCH.EU Election Assessment Mission Final Report Brussels 16 September 2019 The views expressed in this report are solely the views of Election-Watch.EU and the authors of this report TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ 1 II. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 3 III. BACKGROUND AND POLITICAL CONTEXT ................................................................... 4 IV. LEGAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................................................... 6 A. OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................ 6 B. EUROPEAN ELECTORAL REFORMS AND NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORKS ................... 7 C. UNITED KINGDOM WITHDRAWAL FROM THE EU ............................................................ 9 D. COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS MECHANISMS ...................................................................... 9 V. ELECTORAL SYSTEM ........................................................................................................ 10 A. ADVANCE AND ALTERNATIVE VOTING METHODS ......................................................... 11 VI. SUFFRAGE RIGHTS ............................................................................................................ 12 VII. PARTICIPATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ................................................. 14 VIII. ELECTION ADMINISTRATION .......................................................................................... 15 IX. VOTER REGISTRATION ..................................................................................................... 16 X. POLITICAL PARTIES AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE ....................................................... 18 A. SOURCES OF FUNDING .................................................................................................. 19 B. SPENDING LIMITS ........................................................................................................... 20 C. REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE .............................................. 21 D. OVERSIGHT AND SANCTIONING MECHANISMS .............................................................. 21 XI. ONLINE CAMPAIGN AND SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATION ......................................... 21 XII. ELECTION OBSERVATION ................................................................................................ 25 XIII. ELECTION DAYS .................................................................................................................. 27 XIV. CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................................... 28 ANNEX I: LIST OF EAM RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................ 29 ANNEX II: TABLES OF EU MEMBER STATES’ COMPARISON ............................................. 31 ANNEX III: LIST OF EAM NATIONAL COORDINATORS AND CONTRIBUTORS .............. 37 ANNEX IV: OSCE/ODIHR RECOMMENDATIONS 2009 ............................................................ 39 ANNEX V: TABLE OF MEETINGS BY THE NAM & EAM COORDINATION TEAM IN BRUSSELS ............................................................................................................................ 40 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ACRE Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe AEGEE Association des États Généraux des Étudiants de l'Europe / European Students' Forum ALDE Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party APPF Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations AT Austria BE Belgium BG Bulgaria CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CFR Charter of Fundamental Rights CJEU Court of Justice of the European Union CoE Council of Europe CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities CY Cyprus CZ Czech Republic DE Germany DK Denmark EAM Election Assessment Mission EDP European Democratic Party EE Estonia EMB Election Management Body ENF Europe of Nations and Freedom Group EOM Election Observation Mission EP European Parliament EPP European People’s Party EPRS European Parliamentary Research Service ERGA European Regulators Group for Audio-visual Media Services ES Spain EU European Union FI Finland FR France GDPR General Data Protection Regulation GR Greece GRECO Group of States against Corruption (Council of Europe) HR Croatia HU Hungary ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights IE Ireland IT Italy LT Lithuania LU Luxembourg LV Latvia MENF Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom Party MEP Member of the European Parliament MT Malta NAM Needs Assessment Mission NC National Coordinators NL Netherlands ODIHR OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights OSCE Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe PES Party of European Socialists PL Poland PT Portugal PWD Persons with Disabilities RO Romania S&D Socialists & Democrats Group SE Sweden SI Slovenia SK Slovakia TEU Treaty on European Union TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union UK United Kingdom Elections to the European Parliament, 23-26 May 2019 Election Assessment Mission Final Report Election-Watch.EU I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY For the first time, elections to the European Parliament were observed by a comprehensive citizen-led Election Assessment Mission (EAM). The Mission, with 28 national chapters, comprising over 60 international election experts and observers as well as eight like-minded citizen election observer organisations, focused on specific aspects of the electoral process, including the right to vote, the right to stand as a candidate, electoral calendars, voter registration, campaign finance, social media regulation, the participation of persons with disabilities, and conditions for election observation. The EAM followed established election observation methodology, referenced international standards and regional human rights commitments, and has been carried out on a pro bono basis across the European Union (EU). The May 2019 elections to the European Parliament were one of the biggest democratic events worldwide, with an estimated 426 million citizens eligible to vote. European voters cast their ballot to elect the 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), from a total of 539 lists and 15,221 candidates in all 28 EU Member States. The campaigns for the European elections were decidedly more active than in the past, with a greater European dimension, positively resulting in an increased turnout of 50.62 per cent across the EU. European citizens were able to choose from a broad political spectrum in a largely genuine competition, although with nationalist and populist rhetoric in some Member States. Key campaign topics included immigration, the environmental crisis, and euroscepticism. In many Member States, the competition for votes remained a test for national politics rather than a contest for representation at the European level. The non-binding ‘Spitzenkandidaten principle’ was formalised by the European Parliament in 2014 to enhance the transnational character of the process and the impact of the election result on the future EU leadership. Despite increased efforts by European political parties, their lead candidates remained little known, as the parties themselves. It remained unclear prior to the elections whether and how the principle would be applied to the procedure for the appointment of the President of the European Commission. An overall legislative framework for the elections is in place at the European level. Each Member State, looks to its own electoral system and election administration – embedded within its own legal framework and electoral traditions – to carry out the elections. This results in a variance of electoral rules and procedures, contributing to these elections’ complexity. The differences extend to election days and electoral calendars, voter and candidate eligibility, voting methods, and specific aspects of the electoral system, including constituency size and electoral thresholds. Following the principle of “degressive proportionality”, smaller member states have at least six MEPs, and therefore more MEPs per capita, and larger member states have up to 96 MEPs. A number of proposals to adjust this seat allocation method have been made over the past years, with an emphasis on the need to adopt clear, objective and transparent criteria for the distribution of seats in the European Parliament, taking shifts in population numbers into account. No decisions on possible changes to the allocation method have yet been made. European citizens directly elect their representatives to the European Parliament for a five-year period. Conditions for electoral participation as a voter and as a candidate vary considerably across the EU Member States, including differing age, residency, and registration requirements. In many Member States, suffrage rights continue to be restricted based on criminal conviction, and no provisions for individual (independent) candidacy are made, at odds with international standards. Positively, a number of Member States have undertaken efforts in recent years to initiate review and to adopt legal amendments with a view to removing
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Romanian Political Science Review Vol. XXI, No. 1 2021
    Romanian Political Science Review vol. XXI, no. 1 2021 The end of the Cold War, and the extinction of communism both as an ideology and a practice of government, not only have made possible an unparalleled experiment in building a democratic order in Central and Eastern Europe, but have opened up a most extraordinary intellectual opportunity: to understand, compare and eventually appraise what had previously been neither understandable nor comparable. Studia Politica. Romanian Political Science Review was established in the realization that the problems and concerns of both new and old democracies are beginning to converge. The journal fosters the work of the first generations of Romanian political scientists permeated by a sense of critical engagement with European and American intellectual and political traditions that inspired and explained the modern notions of democracy, pluralism, political liberty, individual freedom, and civil rights. Believing that ideas do matter, the Editors share a common commitment as intellectuals and scholars to try to shed light on the major political problems facing Romania, a country that has recently undergone unprecedented political and social changes. They think of Studia Politica. Romanian Political Science Review as a challenge and a mandate to be involved in scholarly issues of fundamental importance, related not only to the democratization of Romanian polity and politics, to the “great transformation” that is taking place in Central and Eastern Europe, but also to the make-over of the assumptions and prospects of their discipline. They hope to be joined in by those scholars in other countries who feel that the demise of communism calls for a new political science able to reassess the very foundations of democratic ideals and procedures.
    [Show full text]
  • Brochure: Ireland's Meps 2019-2024 (EN) (Pdf 2341KB)
    Clare Daly Deirdre Clune Luke Ming Flanagan Frances Fitzgerald Chris MacManus Seán Kelly Mick Wallace Colm Markey NON-ALIGNED Maria Walsh 27MEPs 40MEPs 18MEPs7 62MEPs 70MEPs5 76MEPs 14MEPs8 67MEPs 97MEPs Ciarán Cuffe Barry Andrews Grace O’Sullivan Billy Kelleher HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Printed in November 2020 in November Printed MIDLANDS-NORTH-WEST DUBLIN SOUTH Luke Ming Flanagan Chris MacManus Colm Markey Group of the European United Left - Group of the European United Left - Group of the European People’s Nordic Green Left Nordic Green Left Party (Christian Democrats) National party: Sinn Féin National party: Independent Nat ional party: Fine Gael COMMITTEES: COMMITTEES: COMMITTEES: • Budgetary Control • Agriculture and Rural Development • Agriculture and Rural Development • Agriculture and Rural Development • Economic and Monetary Affairs (substitute member) • Transport and Tourism Midlands - North - West West Midlands - North - • International Trade (substitute member) • Fisheries (substitute member) Barry Andrews Ciarán Cuffe Clare Daly Renew Europe Group Group of the Greens / Group of the European United Left - National party: Fianna Fáil European Free Alliance Nordic Green Left National party: Green Party National party: Independents Dublin COMMITTEES: COMMITTEES: COMMITTEES: for change • International Trade • Industry, Research and Energy • Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs • Development (substitute member) • Transport and Tourism • International Trade (substitute member) • Foreign Interference in all Democratic •
    [Show full text]
  • EYE2018 Programme 3 FOREWORDS
    European youthevent Programme 1-2 June 2018 Strasbourg #EYE2018 European youthevent Table of content Forewords .................................................................................................................. p. 5 The EYE follow-up ................................................................................................... p. 8 Programme overview ............................................................................................ p. 9 Activity formats ...................................................................................................... p. 10 Extra activities Collective events ............................................................................................................. p. 15 Activities without booking ............................................................................................... p. 18 Drop-in activities ............................................................................................................. p. 30 Artistic performances ...................................................................................................... p. 42 Bookable activities YOUNG AND OLD: Keeping up with the digital revolution ................................................. p. 50 RICH AND POOR: Calling for a fair share .......................................................................... p. 68 APART AND TOGETHER: Working out for a stronger Europe .............................................. p. 92 SAFE AND DANGEROUS: Staying alive in turbulent times ..............................................
    [Show full text]
  • Liberal Vision Lite: Your Mid-Monthly Update of News from Liberal International
    Liberal Vision Lite: your mid-monthly update of news from Liberal International Thu, Apr 15, 2021 at 6:59 PM Issue n°5 - 15 April 2021 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER "We have a chance to re-think & re-invent our future", LI President El Haité tells Liberal Party of Canada Convention. In an introductory keynote, President of Liberal International, Dr Hakima el Haité, addressed thousands of liberals at the Liberal Party of Canada‘s largest policy convention in history. WATCH VIDEO CGLI’s Axworthy tells Canadian liberals, "To solve interlinked challenges, common threads must be found." On 9 April, as thousands of Candian liberals joined the Liberal Party of Canada's first-ever virtual National Convention, distinguished liberal speakers: Hon. Lloyd Axworthy, Hon. Diana Whalen, Chaviva Hosek, Rob Oliphant & President of the Canadian Group of LI Hon. Art Eggleton discussed liberal challenges and offered solutions needed for the decade ahead. WATCH VIDEO On World Health Day, Council of Liberal Presidents call for more equitable access to COVID vaccines Meeting virtually on Tuesday 7 April, the Council of Liberal Presidents convened by the President of Liberal International, Dr Hakima el Haité, applauded the speed with which vaccines have been developed to combat COVID19 but expressed growing concern that the rollout has until now been so unequal around the world. READ JOINT STATEMENT LI-CALD Statement: We cannot allow this conviction to mark the end of Hong Kong LI and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats released a joint statement on the conviction of LI individual member & LI Prize for Freedom laureate, Martin Lee along with other pro-democracy leaders in Hong Kong, which has sent shockwaves around the world.
    [Show full text]
  • How Transnational Party Alliances Influence National Parties' Policies
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ZORA Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2021 How Transnational party alliances influence national parties’ policies Senninger, Roman ; Bischof, Daniel ; Ezrow, Lawrence Abstract: Previous research reports that parties in established European democracies learn from and em- ulate the successful election strategies of foreign incumbents, i.e., successful parties are influential abroad. We theorize that—in addition to incumbency (or success)—exchange takes place through transnational party alliances in the European Union. Relying on party manifesto data and spatial econometric analyses, we show that belonging to the same European Parliament (EP) party group enhances learning and em- ulation processes between national political parties. Estimated short- and long-term effects are approxi- mately two and three times greater when foreign incumbents are in the same EP party group compared to other foreign incumbents. Our results have implications for our understanding of how transnational party groups influence national parties’ policy positions. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2020.55 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-196868 Journal Article Accepted Version The following work is licensed under a Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. Originally published at: Senninger, Roman; Bischof, Daniel; Ezrow, Lawrence (2021). How Transnational party alliances influence national parties’ policies. Political Science Research and Methods:Epub ahead of print.
    [Show full text]
  • 2019 European Elections the Weight of the Electorates Compared to the Electoral Weight of the Parliamentary Groups
    2019 European Elections The weight of the electorates compared to the electoral weight of the parliamentary groups Guillemette Lano Raphaël Grelon With the assistance of Victor Delage and Dominique Reynié July 2019 2019 European Elections. The weight of the electorates | Fondation pour l’innovation politique I. DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THE WEIGHT OF ELECTORATES AND THE ELECTORAL WEIGHT OF PARLIAMENTARY GROUPS The Fondation pour l’innovation politique wished to reflect on the European elections in May 2019 by assessing the weight of electorates across the European constituency independently of the electoral weight represented by the parliamentary groups comprised post-election. For example, we have reconstructed a right-wing Eurosceptic electorate by aggregating the votes in favour of right-wing national lists whose discourses are hostile to the European Union. In this case, for instance, this methodology has led us to assign those who voted for Fidesz not to the European People’s Party (EPP) group but rather to an electorate which we describe as the “populist right and extreme right” in which we also include those who voted for the Italian Lega, the French National Rally, the Austrian FPÖ and the Sweden Democrats. Likewise, Slovak SMER voters were detached from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) Group and instead categorised as part of an electorate which we describe as the “populist left and extreme left”. A. The data collected The electoral results were collected list by list, country by country 1, from the websites of the national parliaments and governments of each of the States of the Union. We then aggregated these data at the European level, thus obtaining: – the number of individuals registered on the electoral lists on the date of the elections, or the registered voters; – the number of votes, or the voters; – the number of valid votes in favour of each of the lists, or the votes cast; – the number of invalid votes, or the blank or invalid votes.
    [Show full text]
  • Green Parties and Elections to the European Parliament, 1979–2019 Green Par Elections
    Chapter 1 Green Parties and Elections, 1979–2019 Green parties and elections to the European Parliament, 1979–2019 Wolfgang Rüdig Introduction The history of green parties in Europe is closely intertwined with the history of elections to the European Parliament. When the first direct elections to the European Parliament took place in June 1979, the development of green parties in Europe was still in its infancy. Only in Belgium and the UK had green parties been formed that took part in these elections; but ecological lists, which were the pre- decessors of green parties, competed in other countries. Despite not winning representation, the German Greens were particularly influ- enced by the 1979 European elections. Five years later, most partic- ipating countries had seen the formation of national green parties, and the first Green MEPs from Belgium and Germany were elected. Green parties have been represented continuously in the European Parliament since 1984. Subsequent years saw Greens from many other countries joining their Belgian and German colleagues in the Euro- pean Parliament. European elections continued to be important for party formation in new EU member countries. In the 1980s it was the South European countries (Greece, Portugal and Spain), following 4 GREENS FOR A BETTER EUROPE their successful transition to democracies, that became members. Green parties did not have a strong role in their national party systems, and European elections became an important focus for party develop- ment. In the 1990s it was the turn of Austria, Finland and Sweden to join; green parties were already well established in all three nations and provided ongoing support for Greens in the European Parliament.
    [Show full text]
  • The Impact of Disinformation on Democratic Processes and Human Rights in the World
    STUDY Requested by the DROI subcommittee The impact of disinformation on democratic processes and human rights in the world @Adobe Stock Authors: Carme COLOMINA, Héctor SÁNCHEZ MARGALEF, Richard YOUNGS European Parliament coordinator: Policy Department for External Relations EN Directorate General for External Policies of the Union PE 653.635 - April 2021 DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR EXTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT STUDY The impact of disinformation on democratic processes and human rights in the world ABSTRACT Around the world, disinformation is spreading and becoming a more complex phenomenon based on emerging techniques of deception. Disinformation undermines human rights and many elements of good quality democracy; but counter-disinformation measures can also have a prejudicial impact on human rights and democracy. COVID-19 compounds both these dynamics and has unleashed more intense waves of disinformation, allied to human rights and democracy setbacks. Effective responses to disinformation are needed at multiple levels, including formal laws and regulations, corporate measures and civil society action. While the EU has begun to tackle disinformation in its external actions, it has scope to place greater stress on the human rights dimension of this challenge. In doing so, the EU can draw upon best practice examples from around the world that tackle disinformation through a human rights lens. This study proposes steps the EU can take to build counter-disinformation more seamlessly into its global human rights and democracy policies.
    [Show full text]
  • Beyond the Nation State Also by David Hanley
    Beyond the Nation State Also by David Hanley CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY IN EUROPE: A Comparative Perspective CONTEMPORARY FRANCE (with A. P. Kerr and N. H. Waites) KEEPING LEFT? CERES and the French Socialist Party PARTY, SOCIETY, GOVERNMENT: Republican Democracy in France SOCIAL-DÉMOCRATIE ET DÉFENSE (co-editor with H. Portelli) SPANISH POLITICAL PARTIES (co-editor with J. Louglin) Beyond the Nation State Parties in the Era of European Integration David Hanley Professor of European Studies Cardiff University, UK © David Hanley 2008 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008 978-1-4039-0795-0 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries.
    [Show full text]
  • ASD-Covert-Foreign-Money.Pdf
    overt C Foreign Covert Money Financial loopholes exploited by AUGUST 2020 authoritarians to fund political interference in democracies AUTHORS: Josh Rudolph and Thomas Morley © 2020 The Alliance for Securing Democracy Please direct inquiries to The Alliance for Securing Democracy at The German Marshall Fund of the United States 1700 18th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 T 1 202 683 2650 E [email protected] This publication can be downloaded for free at https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/covert-foreign-money/. The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the authors alone. Cover and map design: Kenny Nguyen Formatting design: Rachael Worthington Alliance for Securing Democracy The Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD), a bipartisan initiative housed at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, develops comprehensive strategies to deter, defend against, and raise the costs on authoritarian efforts to undermine and interfere in democratic institutions. ASD brings together experts on disinformation, malign finance, emerging technologies, elections integrity, economic coercion, and cybersecurity, as well as regional experts, to collaborate across traditional stovepipes and develop cross-cutting frame- works. Authors Josh Rudolph Fellow for Malign Finance Thomas Morley Research Assistant Contents Executive Summary �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 Introduction and Methodology ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
    [Show full text]
  • Identity Federalism in Europe and the United States
    Boston College Law School Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School Boston College Law School Faculty Papers 1-1-2020 Identity Federalism in Europe and the United States Vlad F. Perju Boston College Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/lsfp Part of the Comparative Politics Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, Law and Politics Commons, and the Political Theory Commons Recommended Citation Vlad F. Perju. "Identity Federalism in Europe and the United States." Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 53, no.1 (2020): 207-273. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Boston College Law School Faculty Papers by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Identity Federalism in Europe and the United States Vlad Perju ABSTRACT The turn to identity is reshaping federalism. Opposition to the policies of the Trump administration, from the travel ban to sanctuary cities and the rollback of environmental protections, has led progressives to explore more fluid and contingent forms of state identity. Conservatives too have sought to shift federalism away from the jurisdictional focus on limited and enumerated powers and have argued for a revival of the political safeguards of federalism, including state-based identities. This Article draws on comparative law to study identity as a political safeguard of federalism and its transformation from constitutional discourse to interpretative processes and, eventually, constitutional doctrine. The experience of the European Union, where identity federalism also benefits from a textual anchor, reveals some of the complexities of this process.
    [Show full text]
  • European Security, Turkish Foreign Policy and Article 5 of the NATO Treaty
    sallux ECPM FOUNDATION European security, Turkish foreign policy and Article 5 of the NATO Treaty JOHANNES DE JONG & CHRISTIAAN MEINEN Do NATO member states have a duty to protect Turkey while Turkey at the same time threatens NATO and European security and stability? This publication clarifies that NATO members can withhold (Article 5) protection without changing the NATO Treaty or expelling Turkey from NATO. European, Canadian and American citizens can be informed that the military of their countries will not protect Turkey and the Erdogan government. The question Source: periodista.gr is if European, Canadian and US politicians have the courage to do so. sallux European security ECPM FOUNDATION 3 Key takeaways from this paper 1. The EU, US, Canada and NATO are struggling with the question of how to deal with Turkey. This publication of- fers an overview of Turkish behaviour since 2013 and a viable way forward in how to counter it. The strategy that this publication suggests is that NATO Member States, backed by their Parliaments or Congress, will state that Turkey can no longer count on protection based on Article 5 of the NATO Treaty until Turkey changes its behaviour. 2. This publication maintains that Turkish external behav- iour since 2013 is based on the ideological agenda of President Erdogan’s AKP government. The domestic oppression of Kurds, opposition, and all forms of free Diyanet minister Ali Erbaş holding a sword, ‘neo-Ottomanism’. Turning Hagia Sofia speech mirrors that agenda as well. in the Ottoman tradition, as he gives the into a mosque symbolised and clarified 3.
    [Show full text]