Sunday's vote in Turkey may have handed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a victory, but the leader's drive for expanded powers is far from settled on Turkish social media.
The opposition said the change would have affected the results and called for a partial recount of at least 37% of the votes, said Erdal Aksunger of the CHP.
According to state news network Anadolu, 99.8% of the ballots have been counted and Erdogan holds a narrow majority of 51.4%, with 47.5 million votes being cast.
Most of the changes prposed in the referendum will come into effect following the 2019 elections, but essentially they will see more powers given to the country's president.
However, this referendum is a decision on a new administrative system, a change and a transformation in the Republic of Turkey.
The Washington Post's Fahim says Erdogan's victory in the referendum leaves Turkey's opposition in "a very weak state".
Speaking to a crowd of elated supporters Sunday night in Istanbul after the results were announced, Erdoğan appeared unfazed by the controversy and asserted that the victory represents "the most important governmental reform of our history". We stood up for our vote that day. Not only would a "Yes" vote on that issue put an end to any chance of Turkey joining the European Union, it is also being seen as a unsafe tool in the hands of any government in Turkey. As voting patterns showed, an already divided country had developed more faultlines.
Around 55 million people were eligible to vote in the referendum. Critics say this will allow Erdogan to stay in power until 2029. The Republican People's Party (CHP) questioned the legitimacy of the result, saying the country's electoral authority had chose to "change the rules in the middle of the game". Indeed, Nuray Mert, a political scientist and columnist at the Cumhuriyet newspaper, told Middle East Eye that this tight outcome represented a victory for all those opposed to such a drastic change.
As Erdogan declares victory, crowds protest Turkey's referendum
Mr Erdogan assumed the presidency, meant to be a largely ceremonial position, in 2014 after more than a decade as prime minister. Three of Turkey's biggest cities - Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir - all voted "no" to the constitutional changes.
The referendum was defeated in three of Turkey's largest cities - Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir - which represent roughly a quarter of the country's population, Fahim pointed out.
"Democracies gain strength through respect for diverse points of view, especially on hard issues", said Mark Toner, acting spokesman for the US State Department. They were particularly outraged by an electoral board decision to accept ballots that did not bear official stamps, as required by Turkish law, and called for the vote to be annulled.
The 16 April constitutional referendum in Turkey was contested on an unlevel playing field, and the two sides in the campaign did not have equal opportunities, the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) said in a report published on April 17. Official results are expected in 11 to 12 days.
Edogan became president in 2014 after serving as prime minister for more than a decade. In a joint statement with Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, she called on the Turkish government to "address concerns" about the voting process.
After this vote, the Turks will now elect the president at the same time as parliamentary elections are held.
In March, the Venice Commission, a panel of legal experts at the Council of Europe, said the proposed changes to the constitution represented a "dangerous step backwards" for democracy.
[Turkish deputy prime minister] Mehmet Simsek said the government will instead focus on restoring political stability and kick-starting growth now that voters have approved a shift from a parliamentary-led system to an executive presidency.



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