Outcome of Turkey’s vote worries European leaders
Opposition threatens to fight referendum’s narrow approval
Worried European leaders on Monday questioned Turkey’s commitment to democratic principles and itsWestern allies a day after Turks voted narrowly to grant sweeping new powers to its president.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to respect those Turks who voted against creation of a powerful presidency, many fearing he would take the secular nation down a path toward authoritarian rule and sever close security ties with Europe.
“The tight referendum result shows how deeply divided Turkish society is and that means a big responsibility for the Turkish leadership and for President Erdogan personally,” saidMerkel, whose country is home to about 4 million people of Turkish origin.
The measure, which passed Sunday with 51% of the vote, also could jeopardize the migrant deal reached with Turkey and the European Union to staunch the flow of Syrian refugees fleeing to Europe. Erdogan pledged to review the agreement if the referendum passed.
French President François Hollande said the vote shows a divided nation and urged Turkey to respect opposition voices and European values.
“It’s up to Turks, and them alone, to decide their political organization,” Hollande said, adding that France will “follow with the greatest attention” outside monitors’ evaluations of whether the vote was free and fair, the Associated Press reported.
Hollande also warned that if Turkey reinstates the death penalty, that would “constitute a rupture” with Turkey’s pledges to respect human rights as part of its efforts to join European institutions.
Austrian Foreign Minster Sebastian Kurz called the result a “clear signal against the European Union,” adding that the “fiction” of Turkey’s decadeslong application to the EU must end.
Opposition groups challenged the vote and threatened to appeal, citing voter fraud and saying the government took advantage of the existing state of emergency to handicap the campaign.
“We will pursue a legal battle,” said Bulent Tezcan, deputy leader of Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party. “If the irregularities are not fixed, there will be a serious legitimacy discussion.”
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which monitored the Turkish referendum, said the vote and campaign “fell short” of international standards.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States is urging Turkey’s government to protect basic rights and freedoms as Turkish officials work to resolve the contested results, the AP reported.
Erdogan, who spearheaded the referendum, insisted the vote was the “most democratic election” seen in any Western country and said Turkey would ignore the OSCE findings.
“First, know your place! We won’t see or hear the politically motivated reports you prepare,” Erdogan told supporters outside his palace in Ankara, the AP reported. He called on the opposition and the international community to “show respect to the decision of the nation.”
Erdogan’s supporters say the changes allowed by the referendum would bolster Turkey’s economy and ensure security in a country besieged by terror attacks.
“The economy will be better, the power balance will change. It is better that only one person makes decisions,” said Haci Mevlut Oymak, 75, a sunglasses salesman in Istanbul who voted for the referendum.
Critics of the measure noted that Erdogan issued a state of emergency after the July failed coup and then purged dissenters. Some 100,000 journalists, judges and opposition leaders were stripped of their positions and about 50,000 people have been arrested.
The referendum outcome “shows that in Turkey there’s a very narrow understanding of democracy, because they supported these previous measures of authoritarianism,” said Banu Turnaoglu, a Leverhulme fellow in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge.
“If Erdogan reacts to this criticism ( about the vote) with emotions and anger, it will make Turkey more isolationist, nationalist and Islamic. It will become more unstable,” Turnaoglu said.
Still, some said the outcome made no difference. “It doesn’t have a great meaning to me if the political system changes,” said Serra Tümer, 20, a student in Istanbul who voted for the referendum.
“Let’s see if this is better for the country. We never tried it, so it will be a test.”