Following Sunday's hotly contested referendum that narrowly granted Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers, opposition parties, as well as worldwide observers, are decrying the vote as illegitimate.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, ignored the concerns about voting irregularities and congratulated Erdogan on his referendum victory.
"In general, the referendum did not live up to Council of Europe standards".
In a readout of the call released Monday evening, the White House confirmed that the call took place and that Trump had congratulated his Turkish counterpart.
Trump, whose presidency and election bid was marked by suspiciously cozy relations with Russian Federation - and Turkey, expressed gratitude toward Erdogan's support of the U.S.'s retaliatory Tomahawk strike following a deadly chemical attack in Syria, according to the White House readout of the phone call.
The White House emphasised that the two leaders were united in their determination to punish Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, for using chemical weapons against his own people.
They also discussed "the counter-ISIS [Islamic State campaign]", the statement added.
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Trump's congratulatory call stands in contrast to the cautious response from several European leaders. The two men spoke frequently during the start of Obama's tenure.
Thousands of supporters of the "No" campaign in the referendum on granting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greater powers took to the streets of Istanbul late today to protest alleged poll violations.
In Ankara, hundreds of people were queuing outside the election board's offices to submit petitions requesting the board reverse its decision to accept the ballots without official stamps.
But the head of Turkey's electoral body, Sadi Guven, said the unstamped ballot papers had been produced by the High Electoral Board and were valid. "We finally need some honesty in the relationship between the European Union and Turkey", said Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, adding the bloc should instead work on a "partnership agreement".
He said the CHP would submit complaints to municipal election authorities and the YSK and, depending on the result of those appeals, would go to Turkey's constitutional court, the European Human Court of Rights and any other relevant authority.
The office of French President Francois Hollande warned that a potential referendum on reviving the death penalty would "obviously be a break with values and engagements" Turkey had vowed to uphold as a Council of Europe member.




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