Ankara – FiMED

The official Palestinian community in Ankara has warned against procedures being carried out under the name of "Palestinian community elections", arguing that the current process lacks a mandate, legitimacy and consensus, and warning against an attempt to impose a fait accompli through elections it described as "a formality" that do not reflect the will of the community's members.

In a statement, the community said it is following with concern the electoral procedures being prepared by bodies and individuals who, according to the statement, "have no mandate or legitimacy" entitling them to represent Palestinians as a whole in the Turkish capital.

It stressed that elections are an inherent right of the community's members and not a favour granted by any party, rejecting the adoption of internal bylaws which it said were approved without regard to the will of the community's members and without a clear mandate from those they are supposed to represent.

Warning against an "electoral charade"

The community stressed its rejection of any elections held outside the framework of legitimacy and consensus within the Palestinian community in Ankara, arguing that the legitimacy of representation cannot be imposed through secret decisions or sham elections.

It also refused to grant any unauthorised party the status of representing the community, and held those taking part in passing or promoting what it called the "illegitimate process" responsible for their positions before the community's members.

It demanded that the rules and safeguards of the electoral process be the subject of genuine participation by the community's members themselves, and that the elections be held in a democratic and transparent atmosphere, free from tutelage and the imposition of a fait accompli.

The community stressed its rejection of any rhetoric or practice suggestive of racism or discrimination against Palestinians from the Gaza Strip living in Ankara, affirming that the people of Gaza are "an integral and inseparable part of the Palestinian people".

The statement stressed that the blood, sacrifices and suffering endured by Palestinians in Gaza cannot be the subject of point-scoring, discrimination or exclusion, warning against turning geographic origin into a tool for dividing members of one people.

The community said what is needed is an inclusive framework for Palestinians in Ankara, bringing together people from Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem, the 1948 territories and the diaspora, "without discrimination, favouritism or exclusion".

It called for genuine, free and fair elections whose foundations and rules are drawn up with the participation of the community's members, guaranteeing democratic and transparent representation of all its components.

The community concluded its statement by stressing that the legitimacy of representation "is not seized through secret decisions, nor imposed as a fait accompli, nor granted through sham elections", but derives from the will of the community's members and from a clear and fair democratic process.

In a direct message to the community's members, it said: "No to exclusion, no to racism, no to tutelage, and no to imposing a fait accompli," calling for a united, democratic and inclusive Palestinian community that represents all its members without exception.