Narrow win for Erdogan exposes deep division in Turkey

After a long and messy campaign which deeply affected the relationship between Turkey and other countries in Europe, Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the constitutional referendum that will give him more powers.

On Sunday, 51.6% of the votes were in favour of changing 18 articles of the Constitution in order to technically suspend Turkey's separation of powers and give more powers to the President.

Turkey will become a Presidential republic and Erdogan could stay in power until 2029.

After the vote, Erdogan said: “The decision made by the Turkish public is a historic moment”.

Thousands joined demonstrations denouncing widespread irregularities. The main opposition parties called to invalidate the outcome.

OSCE: NOT A GENUINELY DEMOCRATIC PROCESS”

International observers said “the referendum took place on an unlevel playing field, and the two sides of the campaign did not have equal opportunities.”

In a statement released by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), experts said “the legal framework was inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic process.”

“Our monitoring showed the ‘Yes’ campaign dominated the media coverage and this, along with restrictions on the media, the arrests of journalists and the closure of media outlets, reduced voters’ access to a plurality of views.”

CHRISTIANS AND THE ISLAMISATION OF TURKEY

Under Erdogan’s government, Christians in Turkey have lost freedoms.

The Turkish Association of Protestant Churches denounced Christians are increasingly targeted by officials.

Christian foreigners in the country have been expelled and a Protestant pastor has been arrested and charged with “terrorism.”