The White House said President Trump called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to congratulate him on Sunday's referendum that ballooned the Islamist ruler's presidential powers, though the State Department earlier in the day noted "irregularities on voting day and an uneven playing field during the hard campaign period".
Some members of the European Union, especially Greece is taking preparations to tackle large inflows of migrants after the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed a narrow victory in a historic Turkish constitutional referendum which would provide more executive powers to the President.
The brief statement does note that Trump thanked the Turkish leader for supporting the recent US strike in response to the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons.
Investigators in Turkey and elsewhere believe sarin gas was used in the attack.
In a phone call, the USA president also thanked Erdogan for supporting America's missile strike on a Syrian government airbase on April 7. Everyone and all sections - and the main opposition party in particular- must show respect.
Separately, the State Department issued a more muted and critical statement, also on Monday, calling on Erdogan to "protect the fundamental rights and freedoms" of all Turkish citizens and taking note of "irregularities" reported by global election monitors during and leading up to the vote. "The system represents a change, a transformation in the democratic history of Turkey", he said.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said rumours of voting irregularities were a vain effort to cast doubt on the result.
North Korea: Nuclear War With US May Be Near
He also said North Korea believed its nuclear weapons protect it from the threat of military action by the US. The money given to North Korea forms part of the UK's commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid.
Omer Celik defended what he said were Turkey's strong legal framework and transparent process for elections.
The voters also turned Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential one.
A key point of contention rests on the election board's late decision to count unstamped ballots, which would have been invalidated in past elections and which accounted for about 1.5 million votes.
"I hear calls to isolate Turkey".
Alfano said Italy takes note of the referendum outcome and is awaiting the "final evaluation of the observers" by worldwide monitoring bodies. "All debates about the constitutional referendum are now over", he said.
Addressing supporters in the presidential palace in Ankara, Mr Erdogan said that Turkey did not "see, hear or acknowledge the politically motivated reports" of the monitors.
It also contrasts with more cautious responses from several European leaders, with some even saying the vote effectively ended Turkey's decade-long attempt to join the EU.
Comments