"Our people made their decision and our people said yes to the presidential government system in this country and this nation will never face any guardianship, this nation will never face any external intervention and we will not give in to any threats". "That is why it is very significant".
The prime minister role will also be done away with after the next election in 2019.
The president survived a coup attempt previous year and responded with a crackdown, jailing 47,000 people and sacking or suspending more than 120,000 from government jobs such as schoolteachers, soldiers, police, judges or other professionals.
Erdogan's victory was far tighter than expected, emerging only after several nail-biting hours late Sunday which saw the "no" result dramatically catch up in the later count. Tezcan said they were preparing their files to apply to the YSK, which agreed to accept unsealed ballot papers as valid halfway through voting day, for the annulment of the referendum, vowing that they would also apply to the Constitutional Court and the ECHR if necessary.
At the headquarters of his party the Turkish Prime Minister said that the vote should not divide the Turkish people and that the country would continue its effort to improve the economy and fight its internal and external enemies. Even one fierce secularist I interviewed during the referendum campaign said he was voting no, but with trepidation that he may be casting a vote for terror.
Opponents fear the changes will lead to autocratic one-man rule, ensuring that the 63-year-old Erdogan, who has been accused of repressing rights and freedoms, could govern until 2029 with few checks and balances.
Opposition parties cried foul on the vote.
Turkey's lira firmed to 3.65 to the dollar in Asian trade following the referendum, from 3.72 on Friday.
Responding to Sunday's result, the European Commission issued a statement saying it was awaiting the assessment of worldwide observers.
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He told reporters investigators contacted people Stephens has been speaking to and those individuals are cooperating with police. Early Monday morning, police in the city of Erie - and the state police - both said this was unconfirmed information.
Preparations for the Turkish referendum and electoral campaigns among the diaspora population led to political tension between Turkey and European Union member states during the past months as "Yes" campaign events were canceled and Turkish ministers were prevented from speaking to supporters in Europe.
Erdogan has also vowed to consider reinstating the death penalty - a move that would all but end prospects of European Union membership.
It would dispense with the prime minister's post and centralize the entire executive bureaucracy under the president, giving Erdogan the direct power to appoint ministers.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that if Ankara were to bring back the death penalty, the move would be "synonymous with the end of the European dream" and mark the end of decades of talks to enter the EU.
In the meantime, the AKP must reflect on how to respond to the two pieces of really bad news for it in the referendum results.
The EU has been quick to warn Turkey any return of the death penalty would mean the immediate end of its membership bid.
Furthermore, the president, who must be a Turkish national holding a University level degree, would remain in office for a period of 5 years, renewable for a second and final term.
The referendum has bitterly divided the nation. The two largest opposition parties both challenged Sunday's referendum, saying it was deeply flawed.
"I don't see the country is going down a good path", he said, sitting by the Bosporus. Yet even when I interviewed one of those deputies last week, he still insisted that it was the right thing to do to attend those funerals. "Turkey has been ruled in the past by one man", he said, referring to modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
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