Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Europe

Turks vote on expanding Erdogan's power

By Xinhua-Reuters | China Daily | Updated: 2017-04-17 07:33
Share
Share - WeChat

A woman holds a child as she casts her ballot at a polling station during the referendum at the Aegean port city of Izmir, Turkey. Osman Orsal / Reuters

Opinion polls place 'yes' ahead in poll that could see president rule until 2029

ANKARA - Turks cast their votes in a referendum on Sunday that would give sweeping new powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and herald the most radical change to the country's political system in its modern history.

Opinion polls have shown a narrow lead for a "Yes" vote, which would replace Turkey's parliamentary democracy with an all-powerful presidency and may see Erdogan in office until at least 2029.

The outcome will also shape Turkey's strained relations with the European Union.

The NATO member state has curbed the flow of migrants - mainly refugees from wars in Syria and Iraq - into the bloc but Erdogan says he may review the deal after the vote.

A crowd chanted "Recep Tayyip Erdogan" and applauded as the president shook hands and greeted people after voting in a school near his home in Istanbul. His staff handed out toys for children in the crowd.

"God willing I believe our people will decide to open the path to much more rapid development," Erdogan said in the polling station after casting his vote.

"I believe in my people's democratic common sense."

Pollsters expect a high turnout among the approximately 55 million eligible voters. Last week, many polls indicated an even split between "yes" and "no" voters.

Turks living overseas had until April 9 to cast their ballots, with more than 1 million registered to vote in 57 countries.

More than 250,000 policemen and 128,000 gendarmerie members were deployed at polling stations, while 17,000 security forces safeguarded critical locations such as power supplies and transmission units.

The country went into the referendum under a state of emergency, which was declared after a failed coup attempt in July and has been extended several times.

The referendum has bitterly divided the nation. Erdogan and his supporters say the changes are needed to amend the current constitution, written by generals following a 1980 military coup, confront the security and political challenges Turkey faces, and avoid the fragile coalition governments of the past.

Opponents say it is a step toward greater authoritarianism.

Relations between Turkey and Europe hit a low during the referendum campaign when EU countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, barred Turkish ministers from holding rallies in support of the changes. Erdogan called the moves "Nazi acts" and said Turkey could reconsider ties with the EU after many years of seeking membership with the bloc.

Kurdish militants overnight killed a guard in an attack on a vehicle carrying a district official from Yildirim's ruling AK Party in southeast Turkey's Van province, security sources said.

They said Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants staged the attack in Van's Muradiye district. A second of the AKP official's guards was wounded and 17 people were detained over the attack, they added.

In the southeastern Diyarbakir province, two people were killed and one wounded in a gunfight in a village schoolyard which was being used as a polling station, other security sources said. The cause of the clash was not immediately clear.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 久久精品一区二区东京热| 免费国内精品久久久久影院| 91资源在线观看| 无码av岛国片在线播放| 亚洲人成在线观看| 男女性色大片免费网站| 国产亚洲精品aaaaaaa片| 1024在线观看国产天堂| 女博士梦莹凌晨欢爱| 久久久久成人精品无码| 欧美日韩国产精品自在自线| 免费观看成人羞羞视频软件| 青草午夜精品视频在线观看| 国产精品亚洲片在线花蝴蝶| XXX2高清在线观看免费视频| 抽搐一进一出gif日本| 二个人的视频www| 波多野结衣中文字幕一区二区三区| 含羞草影院无限在线看| 高潮抽搐潮喷毛片在线播放| 国产精品无码专区AV在线播放 | 国产伦精品一区二区三区免费下载 | 国产在线视频福利| 69国产成人精品午夜福中文| 小仙女np高h| 丰满少妇人妻HD高清大乳在线| 最近中文字幕高清字幕8| 亚洲欧美电影在线一区二区| 神尾舞高清无在码在线| 四虎永久免费地址ww1515| 麻豆产精国品一二三产区区| 国产精品va无码二区| 91麻豆最新在线人成免费观看| 女同学下面粉嫩又紧多水| 中文字幕25页| 日产精品一卡2卡三卡4乱码久久| 久草手机在线播放| 欧美一级片在线看| 亚洲成综合人影院在院播放| 深夜a级毛片免费无码| 大香伊蕉国产av|