German lawmaker says Turkey bars him as election observer

BERLIN – A German lawmaker said Thursday the Turkish government is denying him entry to the country as an international observer in the country’s upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

Andrej Hunko, of the opposition Left Party, said Turkey’s ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe informed the Vienna-based group of the decision as he was about to depart for Ankara on Thursday.

It wasn’t immediately clear on what grounds he was refused entry.

Hunko has been an observer of previous elections in Turkey, including a constitutional referendum last year. He criticized the conditions in which that vote was held, and was accused by the government of sympathizing with the outlawed PKK Kurdish rebel group. Hunko denies having PKK sympathies.

Also Thursday, media outlets in Sweden reported that a Swedish lawmaker who arrived in Turkey to observe Sunday’s elections had his passport seized and was prevented from leaving Istanbul’s Ataturk airport. The lawmaker, Jabar Amin, is a member of Sweden’s small Environment Party.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking re-election in the vote that also will usher in a new governmental system that expands the presidency’s powers.