Turkey on Sunday narrowly voted in a historic referendum to approve a new constitution granting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greater powers, according to nearly complete results.
Rising from humble origins to take the helm of Turkey's government in 2003, Recep Tayyip Erdogan quickly attracted a fervent following.
Under the proposals, the office of prime minister would be abolished, allowing the president to draft the budget, declare a state of emergency and issue decrees overseeing ministries without parliamentary approval.
Erdogan has also blasted European countries, accusing authorities in the Netherlands and Germany of being Nazis for refusing to allow Turkish ministers to campaign for Sunday's referendum among expatriate voters.
On Sunday, Erdogan said that the country had made a historic decision by voting for the executive powers and that the "Yes" campaign had gained 51.5 percent of the votes in the referendum, which was held earlier in the day.
But as he addressed thousands of flag-waving supporters in Istanbul a short time later, he was more defiant.
"There are those who are belittling the result". "It's too late now".
"He is rather good at that but the resistance will grow among heavyweights supporting close interaction with Europe and those standing for a parliamentary system balancing presidential power", he added.
Turkey expert Simon Waldman of King's College in London wrote in a Globe and Mail op-ed the vote left Turkey more divided than ever.
The narrowness of the result, coupled with allegations of irregularities, sets the scene for further instability as opposition parties promised to take their challenge to the courts.
But electoral board head Sadi Guven defended the decision.
The High Electoral Board originally announced it would not accept ballots missing ballot commission stamps.
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The issue of capital punishment was raised in the wake of a failed military coup in July a year ago, which the Turkish government says was masterminded by Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric now living in the United States.
Opponents fear the sweeping constitutional changes, which would grant Erdogan more power than any leader since modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and his successor Ismet Inonu, would lead the country to one-man rule.
People were already lined up at an Istanbul polling station before it opened.
"I don't want to get on a bus with no brake system".
Maybe not even President Erdogan himself yet knows the answers to these questions and many of those who voted against him yesterday may well be wondering what will happen next.
In another Istanbul neighborhood, a "yes" voter expressed full support for Erdogan. "Yes, yes, yes. Our leader is the gift of God to us".
He has initiated a widespread crackdown on opposition, which intensified after last year's botched coup, for which he blamed US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. "He's governing so well".
Erdogan served three consecutive terms as prime minister as head of his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party, before becoming Turkey's first directly-elected president in 2014. The AP reports that supporters of the "yes" vote have dominated the airwaves, while supporters of the "no" vote have complained of intimidation. "I also voted because I support the constitutional reform".
Turkey has twice extended the current state of emergency imposed after the July 15 coup bid. Gulen has denied involvement.
Roughly 100,000 people, including judges, teachers, academics, doctors, journalists and members of the military and police forces, have lost their jobs, and more than 40,000 have been arrested. The AKP had all the tools and financial advantages of the government, plus power over the media.
The country's foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said this was the birth of a "truly new Turkey".
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