turkish referendum passes with thin margin
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

Turkish referendum passes with thin margin

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Turkish referendum passes with thin margin

Turkish celebrity chef Nusret Gökçe
Ankara - Arab Today

Turkish citizens gave President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers in a historic referendum on Sunday, transforming Turkey’s political system from parliamentary to presidential and restructuring its executive, legislative and judicial branches.
“Yes” votes led the referendum in a narrow and controversial victory, with a high turnout reaching 86 percent.
According to the official state news agency Anadolu, the “yes” vote received about 51.3 percent of the vote. Surprisingly, Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir — the country’s three major cities — voted “no.”
Speaking to the party supporters in Antalya, Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu likened the referendum result to the birth of a “new Turkey” where “there will be stability and trust.”
Erdogan also thanked the “yes”- voters supporting political party leaders and the voters on the referendum victory.
He also said he will approve the reinstatement of the death penalty if lawmakers submit a bill, or if Turkey holds a referendum to bring it back.
Delivering a speech at the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) headquarters in Ankara after the referendum results, Turkey’s prime minister thanked all voters.
“Turkish nation gave the final word by saying ‘yes.’ ‘No’ voters are of same value as ‘yes’ voters. There are no losers in the referendum, the entire nation won from it,” Binali Yildirim said.
Erdogan also spoke in Istanbul after the referendum victory and called on the international community to respect the result of the referendum in which 25 million people voted ‘yes,’ leading by 1 million votes the ‘no’ votes.
“(The) new system will enter into force with elections to be held in 2019,” Erdogan said. “It is easy to preserve the status quo, but defending the change is the challenging one and we achieved it.”
While the proposed changes are fully endorsed by the AKP and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party have opposed the changes, claiming that the result would be a one-man rule with no separation of powers or a checks-and-balances system.
According to the referendum, the post of prime minister will be abolished and the president will be the sole head of the executive branch. He will decide on the number of vice-presidents and ministers and appoint them without the need for parliamentary approval.
The president will also play a legislative role through presidential decrees and exercise a veto power over the decisions of the parliament except for those backed by a two-thirds majority, which is not common in democratic parliaments.
The referendum process has also been widely criticized mainly because it is taking place when the country is under emergency rule, with basic rights such as organizing political meetings subject to the approval of governors.
“I don’t see this referendum as fair because the campaigns of the opposition were hindered throughout the country, while state funds were mainly allocated for the ‘yes’ campaign along with the state-run and pro-government media channels trying to indoctrinate people and silence and intimidate the dissident voices,” Aysegul Demirel, a voter from Ankara, told Arab News. “So such a constitution doesn’t seem (to be) the outcome of a social compromise.”
But Ismail Ozkanli, a pharmacist from the northwestern city of Rize, said he voted “yes” in the referendum because he wants a stable and stronger Turkey against the pressures of the West and other “dark circles” that want to divide the country.
Kader Sevinc, CHP representative to the EU, said the referendum process took place under very unfair conditions.
“It was an unfair campaign because naysayers (and) opponents were called terrorists, have faced threats, violence, arbitrary detentions, disproportionate TV airtime. We estimate that the government’s influence extended to 90 percent of the Turkish media,” Sevinc told Arab News.
“This referendum was a choice between saying goodbye to democracy in all its surviving manifestations and giving Turkey another chance to reclaim its secular democracy."

Source: Arab News

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

turkish referendum passes with thin margin turkish referendum passes with thin margin



GMT 06:29 2011 Monday ,14 November

Matthew cruises to win at Ochoa Invitational

GMT 03:34 2017 Wednesday ,22 March

Tillerson to skip NATO meeting next month

GMT 13:44 2013 Friday ,15 March

Israel suppress Palestinian demonstrations

GMT 16:15 2017 Monday ,01 May

Moroccan Workers’ Syndicate

GMT 11:56 2016 Wednesday ,12 October

Toyota, Suzuki eye partnership as industry consolidates

GMT 15:42 2011 Thursday ,23 June

Express checks in with foursquare

GMT 10:49 2017 Sunday ,13 August

Car rams into crowd at violent Virginia rally

GMT 17:45 2013 Sunday ,20 October

5 Indian spices that are good for your health

GMT 08:41 2012 Saturday ,15 September

Italian magazine: will print Kate topless snaps

GMT 08:02 2012 Tuesday ,05 June

Zoe Saldana in Prabal Gurung

GMT 06:11 2012 Saturday ,15 September

Tunisia’s Media Conflict: Journalists fight for freedom

GMT 14:35 2015 Friday ,24 July

Awqaf Minister hails New Suez Canal project

GMT 16:34 2017 Thursday ,28 December

Hitler's Nazi-parade Mercedes set

GMT 11:22 2011 Monday ,10 October

Paul McCartney to play in Moscow in December

GMT 05:17 2015 Friday ,25 September

Pope expresses solidarity with Muslims after stampede

GMT 05:44 2012 Saturday ,21 April

ATV engine 95 HP

GMT 03:01 2011 Monday ,19 September

Laughter, tears at US television\'s Emmy awards

GMT 12:04 2012 Wednesday ,07 March

6 Music animation draws on 10 years of eclectic radio

GMT 01:00 2015 Sunday ,05 April

Barzani congratulates Abadi on Tikrit victory

GMT 13:24 2015 Thursday ,15 October

Tesla installs 'autopilot' update

GMT 06:17 2012 Monday ,02 January

Countries across the world celebrate the New Year

GMT 04:07 2016 Tuesday ,07 June

For new era of self-driving cars

GMT 08:21 2017 Saturday ,23 December

Saudi-Sudanese Deal to Ease Transfers

GMT 11:08 2017 Thursday ,21 December

Asian markets mostly down as tax cut euphoria wanes
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday