Turkey has voted to give President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vast new powers to replace the country’s parliamentary democracy with executive presidential control, but opposition parties are demanding a recount amid concerns about corruption.
Erdogan has celebrated what he said is a clear win in a referendum to grant him sweeping new powers, but opponents said they would challenge the vote count which so far gives a narrow 51.3 per cent lead to Mr Erdogan’s supporters.
The “yes” campaign won 1.25 million more votes than the “no” campaign, the head of the country’s High Electoral Board said, and with only about 600,000 votes still to be counted meant the constitutional changes had been approved.
The opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP) said it would demand a recount of up to 60 per cent of the votes, protesting against a last-minute decision by the electoral board to accept unstamped ballots as valid votes.
Speaking to supporters, Erdogan thanked all voters regardless of how they cast their ballots and describing the referendum as a “historic decision”.
But the result appeared short of the decisive victory that Erdogan and the ruling AK Party had campaigned aggressively for.
Under the new changes Erdogan will abolish the post of prime minister and he could rule until 2029 raising concerns across Europe about a constitutional dictatorship.
Greek politicians and media have been watching closely and reporting on the outcome, as tensions between Greece and Turkey heightened over the past few months, due to controversial remarks made by Erdogan about the Lausanne Treaty and Cyprus. Erdogan was also reported to have called Greeks “infidels” last week.
The outcome is also said to shape Turkey’s strained relations with the European Union.
The country’s ongoing relationship with Europe is expected to be rocky and has threatened to end the German brokered EU deal to stall the flow of refugees to Greece and its neighbouring countries.
Infidels ha ha ha, Erdogan you are Satan