Turkey's main opposition party on Monday urged the country's electoral board to cancel the results of a landmark referendum that granted sweeping new powers to the nation's president, citing what it called substantial voting irregularities.
Germany said on Monday the close result in Turkey›s referendum on expanding Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan›s powers was a big responsibility for him to bear and showed how divided Turkish society was.
Turkey's referendum campaign was conducted on an "unlevel playing field" and the vote count itself was marred by late procedural changes that removed key safeguards, worldwide observers said on Monday. Implementing the reforms would now begin, starting with the judiciary, he said.
Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee of the European Parliament, Elmar Brok, commenting on the possibility of introducing death penalty in Turkey, which Erdogan mentioned, in an interview with "Die Welt", said: "In any case, after that, there can be no more negotiations on the accession". The OSCE also said the vote did not meet standards set by the Council of Europe. And, this week, Erdogan appears to have successfully augmented his presidential powers via a referendum.
With political tensions once again escalating in Turkey after a result that opponents fear will hand Mr. Erdogan one-man rule, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for dialogue to seek calm.
Highlighting the fierce divisions over the vote, Turkish journalist Ali Bayramoğlu was reportedly "attacked by a group of around 30 people" when he went to cast his vote.
The Council of Europe "stands ready to support the country in this process", Jagland added.
Turkish people are celebrating at the Justice and Development Party (AKP) headquarters after preliminary results of the referendum announced victory for Erdogan and his party.
Pence warns North Korea of United States resolve
McMaster, said the US would rely on its allies as well as Chinese leadership to resolve the issues with North Korea. Earlier, U.S Vice-President, Mike Pence, warned North Korea not to test the U.S.
Thousands of Erdogan supporters waved flags and blasted horns into the early hours on Monday in celebration of a man who they say has transformed the quality of life for millions of pious Turks marginalized for decades by the secular elite. The writing has been on the wall for Turkey's accession talks for some time- after Brexit, Turkey lost its strongest supporter in the European Union and Erdogan's victory is at least in part a product of his strategy to make the European Union his enemy.
That could present problems for Erdogan in the future, Cagaptay says.
A billboard carrying a picture of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and a slogan that reads: "Yes". Under the new "presidential system" he will be both head of state and head of government for the first time.
Erdogan said Turkey could hold a referendum on the membership bid.
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.
"They have a right to have elections and their people participated in that", Spicer said.
It would dispense with the prime minister's post and centralise the entire executive bureaucracy under the president, giving Erdogan the direct power to appoint ministers.
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