Triumphant Erdogan swats away Western criticism of referendum

Reuters: A defiant Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan denounced the West’s “crusader mentality” on Monday after European monitors criticised a referendum in which he won sweeping new powers.

Erdogan, whose narrow victory laid bare the nation’s divisions, told flag-waving supporters that foreign election observers should “know their place” and Turkey did not “see, hear or acknowledge” criticism that the vote did not live up to international standards.

Sunday’s vote ended all debate on forging a stronger presidency, said Erdogan, who argues that concentration of power is needed to prevent instability.

Opponents accuse him of leading a drive towards one-man rule in Turkey, a NATO member that borders Iran, Iraq and Syria and whose stability is of vital importance to the United States and the European Union.

The main opposition party rejected the result and called for the vote to be annulled. Thousands of people marched through at least three neighbourhoods of Istanbul, some chanting “Thief, Erdogan,” “no to the presidency” and “this is just the beginning” after calls on social media for protests in several cities.

Late on Monday, the cabinet extended a state of emergency by three months, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters. It was the third such extension since a failed coup attempt last July.

Election authorities said preliminary results showed 51.4 percent of voters had backed the biggest overhaul of Turkish politics since the founding of the modern republic.

US President Donald Trump called Erdogan to congratulate him on his referendum victory and to thank him for supporting a US missile attack on Syria in response to a chemical attack by Syrian government forces on April 4, the White House said in a statement.

Trump and Erdogan also agreed on the importance of holding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable for the chemical attack and discussed the campaign against the Islamic State, the statement said.

But the narrowness of his victory could add to volatility in a country that has lately survived an attempted coup, attacks by Islamists, a Kurdish insurgency, civil unrest and war across its Syrian border.

The result laid bare the deep divide between the urban middle classes who see their future as part of a European mainstream and the pious rural poor who favour Erdogan’s strong hand. Erdogan reiterated his readiness to restore the death penalty at several appearances on Monday, which would effectively end Turkey’s decades-long quest to join the EU.

He said it was not important if the EU suspended Turkish accession talks.

“The crusader mentality in the West and its servants at home have attacked us,” Erdogan told a crowd as he arrived at Ankara airport, referring to the foreign monitors’ assessment.

“We neither see, hear, nor acknowledge the political reports you’ll prepare,” he said later at the palace. “We’ll continue on our path. Talk to the hand. This country has carried out the most democratic elections, not seen anywhere in the West.”

The mission of observers from the 47-member Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights body, said the referendum was an uneven contest. Support for “Yes” dominated campaign coverage, and the arrests of journalists and closure of media outlets silenced other views, the monitors said.

“In general, the referendum did not live up to Council of Europe standards. The legal framework was inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic process,” said Cezar Florin Preda, head of the delegation.

While the monitors had no information of actual fraud, a last-minute decision by electoral authorities to allow unstamped ballots to be counted undermined an important safeguard and contradicted electoral law, they said.

Turkey’s foreign ministry dismissed the observers’ criticism as lacking objectivity and impartiality.

The US State Department said it had taken note of the European monitors’ concerns and looked forward to a final report, urging the Turkish government to protect the rights and freedoms of all citizens, however they voted.

Erdogan, a populist with a background in once-banned Islamist parties, has ruled since 2003 with no real rival, while his country emerged as one of the fastest-growing industrial powers in both Europe and the Middle East.

Turkish bar association says electoral board violated law during referendum

Reuters: A last-minute decision by Turkey’s electoral board to allow unstamped ballots in Sunday’s referendum was clearly against the law, prevented proper records being kept, and may have impacted the results, the country’s bar association said.

“With this illegal decision, ballot box councils (officials at polling stations) were misled into believing that the use of unstamped ballots was appropriate,” the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) said in a statement released late on Monday.

“The YSK (electoral board) announcement, which is clearly against the law, has led to irregularities, and the prevention of records that could uncover irregularities from being kept,” it said, adding that it expected the YSK to now realise its constitutional responsibilities in evaluating complaints.

Turkey must investigate referendum doubts: European Commission

Brussels (Reuters): The European Commission called on Turkey on Tuesday to investigate alleged irregularities in Sunday’s referendum boosting the powers of President Tayyip Erdogan and urged him to show restraint after his narrow victory.

Declining to congratulate the Turkish president, the EU executive’s second official response since the vote instead focused on observer findings that the vote was skewed in Erdogan’s favour without a proper legal framework and with late changes in ballot counting.

“We call on the authorities to launch a transparent investigation into these alleged irregularities,” Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said when asked about the conclusions of the observer mission from the Council of Europe human rights body.

Turkish opposition leader says “unprecedented” missing votes 

in referendum

ANKARA  (Reuters) - The deputy chairman of Turkey’s main opposition said the number of missing votes in a referendum handing President Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers was “unprecedented”, after submitting his party’s application to annul the results.

Bulent Tezcan, deputy party chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), told reporters at the headquarters of the High Electoral Board in the Ankara that the number of unstamped ballots was unknown.