Turkish opposition demands reversal of vote giving Erdogan sweeping powers

An anti-government protester shouts slogans during a demonstration at the Besiktas district in IstanbulREUTERS/Huseyin AldemirProtesters took to the streets in Turkey on Monday less than one day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s power-extending referendum win.

“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan treated a crowd of supporters gathered outside his presidential palace on Monday evening to a speech laced with invective against Europe, saying his victory in a referendum on Sunday took place under conditions that were * a itemscope=”itemscope” itemprop=”StoryLink” href=”/news/terminal/OOKB9L6JIJUU” class=”terminal-news-story” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener” *democratic beyond compare. This comes after Turkey’s principal opposition parties including Republican People’s Party (CHP) has demanded recounting of almost 60% of the votes.

Erdogan said turnout was estimated at 86 percent, which he described as proof of the strength of Turkish democracy.

A referendum on restoring the death penalty in Turkey would constitute a break with European values, the French president’s office warned on Monday.

Simsek and others in the ruling AKP have said that victory for the referendum would allow the government to quickly roll out investor-friendly structural reforms – such as to the labour market and the tax code – but investors have been sceptical, seeing the likelihood of more delays and policy gridlock.

The “Yes” camp won more than 51 percent in Sunday’s referendum while the “No” side got nearly 49 percent, according to near-complete results released by Turkey’s election authorities. While supporters claim that the change will bring on a more stable and efficient government, opponents have said that the move is a risky step toward one-man rule. Axel Schaefer, a senior member of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, went so far as to raise an alarmist tone, warning that majorities reached in democratic votes could turn against democracy itself, and used the 1933 election results in Germany, to make his point.

The president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, said he was very concerned about Turkey possibly reviving the death penalty and called it a “red line”.

The opposition was particularly incensed by a decision by the YSK to allow voting papers without official stamps to be counted, which they said opened the way for fraud.

But the opposition were not content to rest on their better-than-expected performance despite a lopsided campaign in which the “Yes” camp enjoyed vastly greater resources and dominated the airwaves.

Tezcan also stated that authorities can not “determine how many ballot papers may have been irregularly cast”.

Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast and its three main cities, including the capital Ankara and the largest city Istanbul, looked set to vote “No” after a bitter and divisive campaign.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and it’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights had global observers in Turkey to monitor the referendum.

Most of the changes won’t take effect until after the next presidential and parliamentary elections, slated for November 3, 2019.

The HDP, which has had two of its leaders imprisoned under Erdogan’s rule, said on April 16 that the referendum’s result would not be considered legitimate until their appeal was accepted. Such a move would spell the end of Turkey’s accession talks with the European Union.