OSCE criticizes Turkey's 10 percent electoral thresholdJune 13, 2011 - 17:36 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Western observers said Turkey's elections were “well-managed but the country needs to expand freedoms to strengthen its democracy.” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won a third term in office in the June 12 election and he seeks to overhaul Turkey's military-era constitution. Election monitors from The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said that the election demonstrated pluralism. But they urged Turkey to improve freedom of expression and create a media environment "free from political pressure." The OSCE delegation also criticized Turkey's 10 percent electoral threshold that keeps smaller parties out of parliament, Today’s Zaman reported. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. |