Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the country’s PODEMOS party have condemned Turkey’s detention and subsequent deportation of a delegation of Spanish election observers sent to observe the country’s presidential elections.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a complaint with Turkish authorities over the expulsions, and the Spanish embassy was actively engaged in efforts to secure the release of the delegates and has supported them post- deportation.
PODEMOS, a prominent left-wing party, strongly condemned the detentions and expulsion of the election observers. The party’s leader and Minister for Social Rights, Ione Belarra, expressed solidarity with the delegates, highlighting that Turkey’s treatment of the observers signals broader concerns over repression and human rights violations in the country. PODEMOS’s international secretariat denounced the incident as a violation of democratic principles.
Among those detained and expelled from Turkey was an MP from Spain’s Basque Bildu party, Jon Iñarritu, the national party secretary of the Catalan Party, Isabel Chacón, and trade union confederation Intersindikal’s Tino Brugo.
During the run up to Turkey’s 14 May elections, Turkey’s pro- Kurdish Green Left invited international organisations, political parties, trade unions, and activists to serve as election observers. Spain sent a ten-person delegation to Siirt (Sêrt), a Kurdish-majority south-eastern province of Turkey.
The Spanish observers were detained by police as soon as the polls opened on the Sunday morning, over claims that the delegates had violated election rules and lacked the necessary accreditation. They were released temporarily in the evening but re-detained when the detainees sought assistance from the Spanish embassy. The Spanish citizens were then overnight at a local police station.
The following day, Monday 15 May, the delegation was escorted to an airport for deportation, accompanied by lawyers from the Green Left.
The incident has strained diplomatic relations between the two countries, with concerns over Turkey’s commitment to democratic values and the treatment of foreign observers.
