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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Turkish PM says people’s message clear, vote has ended all arguments

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ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Monday that the people’s message was clear after a referendum which will hand President Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers, and said the vote had ended all arguments.


Election authorities said preliminary results showed 51.4 per cent of voters had backed the biggest overhaul of Turkish politics since the founding of the modern republic in Sunday’s referendum.


Turkey’s foreign ministry denounced election observers’ criticism that the country’s referendum fell below international standards, saying their remarks lacked objectivity and impartiality.


A mission of observers from the 47-member Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights body, said the referendum, in which ‘Yes’ votes to grant President Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers narrowly won, was an uneven contest.


“Saying the referendum fell below international standards is unacceptable,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that previous ‘politically charged’ comments from OSCE monitors showed the team arrived in Turkey with prejudice and disregarded principles of objectivity and impartiality.


Showing no sign of pulling his punches after the referendum victory, Erdogan sparked new alarm in EU capitals by saying Turkey’s next plebiscite could be on re-introducing the death penalty.


The ‘Yes’ camp won 51.41 per cent in Sunday’s referendum and ‘No’ 48.59, according to complete results released by election authorities.


Erdogan returned to Ankara from Istanbul, welcomed by thousands lining the roads as he drove in triumph aboard the presidential bus.


In a brief speech from the airport, Erdogan congratulated cheering supporters for “standing tall” in the face of the “crusader mentality” of the West. — Agencies


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