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Turkish President May Receive Increased Power
The Associated Press via CBC reports on preliminary results of a referendum held in Turkey on whether the powers of the president should be increased:
With 99 per cent of the ballots counted, the "yes" vote stood at 51.37 per cent, while the "no" vote was 48.63 per cent, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. The head of Turkey's electoral board confirmed the "yes" victory and said final results will be declared in 11-12 days.
BBC News quotes the leader of an opposing party:
The main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP), has called for a recount.
Deputy leader Bulent Tezcan denounced "violations" in the electoral process. "We will pursue a legal battle. If the irregularities are not fixed, there will be a serious legitimacy discussion," he said.
additional coverage:
- NPR
- BBC News
- Reuters
- CNN (editorial)
- New York Times
- Foreign Policy blog (editorial)
Turkish Electorate Appears to Choose Dictatorship; Opposition Cries Foul
Common Dreams reports Erdoğan Claims Ultimate Power in Turkey After Nearly Split Vote.
As one opponent of the referendum noted: "Threats, oppression, imprisonment, censorship, defamation--and yet half of the people of Turkey voted" against.
In a very close--and closely watched--referendum vote, Turks on [April 16] handed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan what many say is authoritarian rule.
With more than 99 percent of ballots counted, Erdoğan claimed a win with 51.36 percent voting in favor of the referendum and 48.64 voting against.
However, the Guardian reported,
disparities persisted into Sunday evening, with the opposition saying not all ballots had been counted and they would contest a third of the votes that had been cast. [Sadi Guven, the head of Turkey's high electoral board, or YSK] said the YSK had decided to consider unstamped ballots as valid unless they were proved to be fraudulent after a high number of complaints--including one from the ruling AK Party--that its officials had failed to stamp some ballot papers.
The No campaign said the YSK's last-minute decision raised questions about the validity of the vote.
TheFederalistPapers.org reports Turkey Votes To Turn Itself Into An Islamic Dictatorship.
Turkey's new dictator, President Recip Tayyip Erdoğan claimed victory in Sunday's vote on whether he should essentially take almost complete control over the country.
The opposition has said they would contest the election, citing rampant voter fraud, but the election is no less stunning.
Turkey is a member of NATO and a crucial ally (sometimes) in the fight against terrorism.
[...] If the results are upheld, it gives Turkey's government--with Erdoğan at the helm--widespread authority to scrap the centuries-old parliamentary system, replacing it with a presidential model. It would concentrate massive power in the hands of the president who has recently jailed opponents and cracked down on dissent.
Erdoğan will be able to appoint senior judges, declare a state of emergency, dissolve parliament, and in some cases issue new laws be [decreed].
It will also theoretically allow Erdoğan, who has dominated Turkish politics as president and prime minister since 2003, to stay in office until 2029.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday April 19 2017, @12:00PM (4 children)
With a "mentally-unstable"-like leader** and little to none at all leverage on him, NATO's got to ask itself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya,...?
** (only a month or so ago, the Nazi [bbc.com] vs dictator [sbs.com.au] spat with Europe).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Insightful) by looorg on Wednesday April 19 2017, @01:21PM (3 children)
With a "mentally-unstable"-like leader** and little to none at all leverage on him, NATO's got to ask itself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya,...?
This is reminiscent of what a lot of European papers wrote when Trump became president of the USA. "OMG! Trump is the leader of NATO now! He is going to drag us into nuclear war at the drop of a hat or insult ..." etc etc. But then perhaps a complete lack of understanding how NATO works shouldn't be allowed to get in the way of a good outrage.
Neither Trump nor Erdogan are probably the only "insane" or undesirable leaders of NATO countries. But then NATO isn't being run personally be either of them. Elected politicians come and go -- multinational organizations are supposed to be above that and function no matter whom is in office in the various homelands.
Example. Greece joined NATO in 1952, same year as Turkey joined. Between 1967 and 1974 the country was a military dictatorship, or controlled by a military junta. As I recall their excuse was that they "had to take control" to prevent (or save) the nation from falling under the influence of communism. I would assume that Greece was to valuable to be kicked out for geographical reasons, also if it had fallen to communism it might have joined the WP and that would not have been good from a NATO perspective. But with that in mind -- NATO seem to have a somewhat pragmatic look upon national leadership. They come and go while NATO prevails.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday April 19 2017, @03:47PM
"OMG! Trump is the leader of NATO now! He is going to drag us into nuclear war at the drop of a hat or insult ..."
It's only been a little over 100 days, and he's already fired a bunch of cruise missiles and dropped the MOAB. Give him another year.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday April 19 2017, @09:53PM
It's probably easier to get NK to launch an attack than it is to convince NATO to go to war. They both end the same way, though, NATO going to war.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday April 20 2017, @07:03AM
The difference is that in America there are still the checks and balances (and Trump has experienced them first hand already). In Turkey, they already had been much weaker than in America, and this referendum was to basically completely remove them.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.