Erdogan claims victory in vote on new powers
OPPOSITION CRIES VOTER FRAUD AS TURKISH PRESIDENT’S POWERS SWELL
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed a narrow victory in Sunday’s referendum to give him sweeping new powers, but the country’s opposition said it would contest the result over suspicion of voter fraud.
In a dramatic finish to the bitterly fought campaign, the staterun news agency said Erdogan’s Yes camp had won around 51 per cent while the No campaign took 49 per cent with 98 per cent of the vote counted.
Erdogan claimed victory in a low-key speech in Istanbul. “This is a historic decision, not an ordinary event,” he said. “We are carrying out the most important reform in the history of our nation.”
However, the opposition CHP party said it was looking to contest 37 per cent of the ballot boxes over suspicion of vote tampering.
The CHP’s protest was based on a decision by the High Electoral Board to accept ballots that had not been officially stamped. The board announced at the last minute it would accept unstamped ballots unless they could be proven to be fraudulent.
“The High Electoral Board has failed by allowing fraud in the referendum,” said Bulent Tezcan, CHP deputy chairman.
Erdogan’s supporters took to the streets in Ankara in celebration.
“Yes, yes, yes! Our leader is the gift of God to us,” said Mualla Sengul. “We will always support him. He’s governing so well.”
The Yes vote gives Turkey’s government the authority to replace the country’s century-old parliamentary system with a presidential model. Opponents have warned it will send Turkey lurching toward dictatorship, concentrating power in the hands of Erdogan, who has jailed opponents and cracked down on dissent since last year’s failed coup against him.
The new constitutional system will get rid of the role of prime minister and make the president both head of state and head of the government. He will be able to appoint judges, declare a state of emergency, dissolve parliament and in some cases issue laws by decree.
It will also theoretically allow Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics since 2003, to stay in office until 2029.
Erdogan and his supporters had argued the “Turkish-style” presidential system would bring stability and prosperity in a country rattled by the failed coup last year that left more than 200 people dead, and a series of devastating attacks by the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants.
Rising from humble origins to take the helm of Turkey’s government, Erdogan quickly attracted a fervent following.
But Erdogan, who served as prime minister and then president, also became feared and hated by many who saw him as an increasingly autocratic leader seeking to erode the country’s secular traditions by imposing his conservative, religious views.
“He’s a real leadership figure because he is not a politician that comes from the outside. He comes from the street,” Birol Akgun, an international relations expert at Ankara’s Yildirim Beyazit University, said. “He has 40 years of political experience and is very strong in practical terms.”
But with each election win throughout his career, Erdogan has grown more powerful, and, his critics say, more authoritarian.
The crackdown after the coup saw roughly 100,000 people lose their jobs, including judges, lawyers, teachers, journalists, military officers and police. More than 40,000 people have been arrested and jailed, including pro-Kurdish lawmakers.
Hundreds of non-governmental organizations and news outlets have been shut down, as have many businesses, from schools to fertility clinics.
Erdogan has also blasted European countries, accusing authorities in the Netherlands and Germany of being Nazis for refusing to allow Turkish ministers to campaign for Sunday’s referendum among expatriate voters.
“He is a harsh leader in character,” said Ankara academic Akgun, who used to head a pro-government NGO.
“But in Turkey, a country that has so many problems, in societies like ours, the image of strong leadership is necessary to command both fear and respect and trust in society.”
Turnout was high in Sunday’s election with more than 86 per cent of the country’s 55 million eligible voters casting ballots. All three of Turkey’s largest cities appeared to have voted No, but Erdogan gained enough support in rural areas to claim victory.
At a school polling station in the Kosuyolu neighbourhood of Istanbul, Insaf Akay, a 37-year-old mother in a headscarf, said she was tired of being discriminated against by secular Turks. “I think there will be more freedom for people like me under the new system,” she said.
Mustafa Sacat, 62, said he normally voted for Erdogan “but I want to keep the Parliament system”.
“I don’t want to get on a bus with no brake system. A one-man system is like that,” said Istanbul resident Husnu Yahsi, 61, who said he was voting “no.”
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, whose position will be eliminated under the presidential system of government, said, “There are no losers of this referendum. Turkey won, the beloved people won.”