Davutoğlu says gov’t trying to solve expat voting problem

Davutoğlu, in a visit to the Zaman Media Group headquarters on Wednesday, shared his views regarding Turkey’s political agenda ahead of the Sept. 12 referendum on a set of constitutional changes passed in Parliament in May.

Responding to a question on whether the government will find a way to allow Turks living abroad to vote in the next elections, Davutoğlu said it should. Although expatriates from many countries are given the technical and procedural means to vote in elections or referendums while outside their home countries, many Turks living abroad will not be able to vote in the Sept. 12 referendum due to a lack of legislation on the issue.

“We are trying to solve this problem. The problem is a technical one rather than one related to principles. We are negotiating with European officials as to the technical problems related to voting. Take Germany, for instance. The buildings of the Turkish embassies in Cologne and Frankfurt are all small, but there are nearly 300,000 voters there. How the voting will take place in practice is at the center of the problem. This should be solved,” Davutoğlu said.

Countries such as Germany, the United States, Bulgaria, Italy and Croatia place ballot boxes in their embassies so that their citizens who live abroad can vote, but they also allow their expatriates to vote by mail. This system of voting has been in practice in Germany for 30 years. Turkish expatriates are, however, obliged to go to the nearest Turkish border gate to cast their votes. Since many Turks living abroad do not have the means or time to make such a trip, millions of Turkish immigrants will not have a say in the reforms that will shape the country’s future.

Davutoğlu also commented on the content of the reform package to be voted on and said he can say without any hesitation that there is nothing disturbing in the package with regards to both relevant international standards and Turkey’s internal dynamics, underlining that European Union officials have never expressed any objection to the package during their discussions on the changes.

Stating that claims that the government is aiming to bring the judiciary under control with the changes are groundless, Davutoğlu said, on the contrary, the role of the executive body in the judiciary is stronger today and that the package strengthens judicial independence.

Commenting on the deficiencies of the Turkish judiciary, which he says become apparent in the high number of cases filed against Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and recent criticisms of the Foreign Ministry regarding its defense at the ECtHR in the case of slain Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, Davutoğlu recalled a similar case from the past.

The foreign minister, who had previously said that he was personally disturbed by this defense, said he had sent back the defense prepared by the Justice Ministry in the ECtHR case of Mustafa Erdoğan, a constitutional law professor who was convicted over one of his articles criticizing members of the Constitutional Court. “The defense was unacceptable and I sent it back to the Justice Ministry. We did not submit a defense in that case,” he said.

‘Foreign, domestic policies interrelated’

Davutoğlu noted that there is an intrinsic relationship between domestic politics and foreign policies without a clear-cut distinction and that both reinforce one another in various ways.

Stressing that Turkey is very blessed with its historical, cultural and social richness, the foreign minister said the way Turkey deals with countries in its vicinity is far more effective and different from others afar. Stating that Turkey’s foreign policy is not limited by boundaries of any kind regarding Turkey’s mediating efforts in the Balkans to find lasting peace and stability, Davutoğlu said Bosnia and Herzegovina is a “domestic affair” of Turkey. “There are more Bosniaks living in Turkey than in Bosnia,” Davutoğlu noted. He underlined that only Turkey can orchestrate any type of action plan vis-a-vis Bosnia, recalling the facilitating efforts that Turkey has been spearheading among nations in the Western Balkans in the past year.

Turkey’s foreign policy saw a major impetus in the last two years, he said, citing Turkey starting Israeli-Syrian proximity talks in 2008 as an example. Turkey’s foreign policy has picked up tremendous momentum, Davutoğlu said and added that Turkey’s current major foreign policy priority agenda is to find ways to overcome a political stalemate in Iraq.