Election officials count votes in the Turkish referendum that will give sweeping new powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Izmir, Turkey on Sunday. “Yes” votes stood at 51.3% after 98.2% of ballots had been opened for counting, state-run Anadolu news agency said, though a lag between opening and counting them could see the lead tighten further in the final stages. Erdogan called Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and the leader of the nationalist MHP party, which supported the “Yes” vote, to congratulate them, presidential sources said. A “Yes” vote would replace Turkey’s parliamentary democracy with an all-powerful presidency and may see Erdogan in office until at least 2029, in the most radical change to the country’s political system in its modern history. Turkey has been ruled in the past by one man,” he said, referring to modern Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Source: Mint April 16, 2017 16:26 UTC