Erdogan advocates intl monitoring for Egypt elections

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday reiterated calls for a transition of power in Egypt, saying a government upholding universal principles of democracy should be established through free and fair elections held under international monitoring. Erdogan, addressing his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputies, said Turkey has no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of Egypt or another country, but stressed that people's cries for humane living conditions isn't a purely internal matter. "We're looking at the issue from the perspective of humanity, brotherhood, and good neighborliness," he said. "What we want is peace, stability and welfare in our region." He added, "The Middle East has suffered greatly from wars, conflicts, internal unrest, instability and administrations that ignore their people's wishes. … The duty of governments is to listen to what their people say." He also said, "Transition to a government based on universal democratic principles should take place in Egypt through fair and free elections monitored by international observers. The transition period must begin immediately and it should be orderly. The transitional government should be built on consensus, and those who resorted to violence during demonstrations should face justice." The elections should be concluded swiftly, over a period of a week at most, he said, and called for an international donors conference to discuss ways to prevent hunger and economic hardship in Egypt.