More power to Erdogan: 51.7% Turks vote ‘Yes’
Three large cities, mainly Kurdish southeast set to vote No
ISTANBUL: Votes for constitutional change to hand President Tayyip Erdogan sweeping powers held a narrow lead with almost all ballot boxes opened on Sunday, but Turkey’s three largest cities and the mainly Kurdish southeast looked set to vote “No”.
The “Yes” votes stood at 51.7% after 95% of ballots had been opened, state-run Anadolu news agency said, with the lead narrowing in the final stages of an increasingly tight count.
A “Yes” vote would replace Turkey’s parliamentary democracy with an all-powerful presidency and may see Erdogan in office until at least 2029, in the most radical change to the country’s political system in its modern history.
The outcome will also shape Turkey’s strained relations with the European Union. The Nato member state has curbed the flow of migrants - mainly refugees from wars in Syria and Iraq - into the bloc but Erdogan says he may review the deal after the vote.
In Turkey’s three biggest cities - Istanbul, Izmir and the capital Ankara - the “No” camp appeared set to prevail narrowly, according to Turkish television stations.
Speaking to reporters in Ankara, Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak said that the “Yes” camp had not won as many votes as expected, but was still ahead nationwide.
Earlier in the day, a crowd chanted “Recep Tayyip Erdogan” and applauded as the president shook hands and greeted people after voting in a school near his home in Istanbul. His staff handed out toys for children in the crowd.
“God willing I believe our people will decide to open the path to much more rapid development,” Erdogan said in the polling station after casting his vote.
“I believe in my people’s democratic common sense.”
The “Yes” percentage of the vote - which stood at 63% after around one quarter had been opened - eased as the count came further west towards Istanbul and the Aegean coast. Broadcaster Haberturk said turnout was 86% .
The opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP) said a last-minute decision by the electoral board to accept unstamped ballots as valid votes put the vote in question. “We will pursue a legal battle. If the irregularities are not fixed, there will be a serious legitimacy discussion,” CHP’s Bulent Tezcan said.