Erdoğan claims referendum win despite organised frauds

Erdoğan declared "victory" in Sunday's referendum that will grant sweeping powers to the presidency, hailing the result as a "historic decision." But the vote was marred by irregularities
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and his wife, Emine, waving to supporters in İstanbul following the referendum.
Sunday, 16 April 2017 23:11

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared "victory" in Sunday's referendum that will grant sweeping powers to the presidency, hailing the result as a "historic decision." But the vote was marred by irregularities. Illegal acts were being carried out in favour of the Erdoğan's ruling AKP party in Sunday's referendum on expanding the powers of the presidency.

Turkey’s high electoral board (YSK) decided to consider unstamped ballots as valid unless they were proved to be fraudulent, after some "complaints" – including one from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) – that its officials had failed to stamp some ballot papers.

Under the changes, most of which will only come into effect after the next elections due in 2019, the president will appoint the cabinet and an undefined number of vice-presidents, and be able to select and remove senior civil servants without parliamentary approval.

Turkey's opposition parties vowed to challenge the results reported by Anadolu agency, saying they were skewed. Erdoğan said critics "belittling" result of presidential powers referendum "shouldn't try, it will be in vain".

Returns carried by the pro-government Anadolu news agency showed that with nearly 100 percent of the vote counted, the "yes" vote had about 51.1 percent (24.325.817) compared to 48.8 percent (23.201.726) for the "no" vote.

Reminding that a political power does not receive its legitimacy only with votes, the Communist Party of Turkey's (TKP) statement declared the celebrations of the AKP government an act of "mocking" the people. AKP government has long been illegitimate with its reactionary character and practices against the people, the statement said, calling the referendum results "a confirmation of illegitimacy".

Erdal Aksünger, vice chairman of the Republican People’s party (CHP), said it would challenge 37% of the ballot boxes and accused Anadolu agency of publishing inaccurate results. The country’s pro-Kurdish opposition party said it planned to object to two-thirds of the ballots.

“Today, Turkey has made a historic decision on a 200-year-old conflict in its administrative system. That decision was no ordinary one. Today is the day when a change, a decision to shift to a truly serious administrative system was made,” Erdogan told reporters at his official residence in İstanbul.

The country’s three largest cities – İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir – voted against the changes, and so did the vast majority of Kurdish voters and many of the coastal cities, indicating a general decline in the ruling party’s support.

Addressing crowds in İstanbul, Erdoğan said that Turkey could hold another referendum on reinstating the death penalty, as he claimed victory in a vote that will hand him sweeping new powers. He would "immediately" discuss the issue of bringing back the death penalty with Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and the leader of the ultra-nationalist MHP party. 

Erdoğan also said votes in favour of constitutional changes to replace Turkey's parliamentary system with an executive presidency stood at 51.5 percent. He said everyone should respect the nation's decision, and added Turkey would "shift gears" in the coming period.