Erdogan: Turkish people have voted in favor of constitutional changes

The Turkish President announced the government's victory in the constitutional referendum.

Meanwhile, opposition parties to the Turkish government have questioned the integrity of the country's constitutional referendum.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Sunday night, April 17, that unofficial vote count results indicated that more than 51 percent of Turkish voters voted in favor of the government's proposed changes to the constitution.

In a statement read in Istanbul on the occasion, Mr. Erdogan said that the changes voted for would not be implemented until 2019.

According to news published by the state-run Anadolu Agency, based on a count of about 99% of the votes, the votes against the constitutional changes were announced at 48.7%.

At the same time, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also announced that unofficial news indicated that the majority of votes in favor of the constitutional changes were in favor.

Meanwhile, Erdal Aksongger, deputy leader of the government's main opposition party, said his party had questioned the votes of about 37 percent of the ballot boxes and that this figure could be higher.

The pro-Kurdish party, which opposes constitutional changes, said on Sunday morning that it had identified about 2.5 million problematic votes. The party said it would challenge about two-thirds of the ballots cast.

Eighteen amendments to the Turkish constitution have been put to a vote by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and, if approved, would transform Turkey's parliamentary system into a military republic. In this case, the position of prime minister would be eliminated and the powers of the president would be increased.

Opponents believe that these changes will lead to a dictatorship in Turkey. They fear that such a change will lead to the authoritarian rule of Erdogan, who has so far suppressed freedoms and could sit in power for the next twelve years.

But Mr Erdogan has argued that changing the presidential system will prevent weak governments from coming to power and will ultimately lead to a long period of peace and stability.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition party, also cast his vote on Sunday. The opposition says they have faced more than 100 arrests and threats while campaigning to explain their views.

Observers from the 57-nation European organization known as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were monitoring the vote in the Turkish referendum. The head of the observer group sent to Turkey said the group had been in Turkey for a month to assess the process of holding the referendum, including media activity, the legal framework and compliance with international standards.

Source: Voice of America