Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won a historic referendum that will greatly expand the powers of his office, although opposition parties said they would challenge the results.
President Donald Trump called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to personally congratulate him on his narrow referendum win on Monday. That was a smaller mandate than the decisive result for which he and his ruling AK Party had aggressively campaigned.
But his more abrasive style quickly returned. "We finally need some honesty in the relationship between the European Union and Turkey", said Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, adding the bloc should instead work on a "partnership Agreement". "That is why it is very significant".
New presidential and parliamentary elections are set to take place in November 2019.
In the referendum, voters gave sweeping new powers to President Erdogan. However, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek told Reuters there was no such plan, and the elections would still be held in 2019.
His supporters argue that given Turkey's history of coups - including a defeated attempt last July - civil strife and failed coalition politics, a stronger executive is needed.
They criticised a decision by electoral officials to allow voting papers without official stamps to be counted, saying it opened the way for fraud. But the main opposition party rejected the result and called for the vote to be annulled.
The call comes despite concerns from worldwide monitors and opposition parties about numerous voting irregularities.
It cited as a potential irregularity a last minute decision by the electoral board to count ballots that had not been stamped by officials.
Kilicdaroglu has accused Erdogan of seeking a "one-man regime", and said the proposed changes would put the country in danger.
In Istanbul, hundreds of demonstrators opposed to the amendments marched in a central neighborhood late Sunday, clanging pots and pans.
I take responsibility for failing to motivate Chelsea-Antonio Conte
This is the thing with a past love: you can simultaneously have deep respect for them whilst desperately wanting to damage them. Tottenham now trail them by four points with six games to go and have the superior goal difference. "For sure I am concerned".
A voter casts his referendum ballot in Istanbul. It traded at 3.6380 against the USA dollar early on Monday, firming from 3.7220 on Friday. But the main opposition CHP, which led the No campaign, has said it would contest the results. Implementing the reforms would now begin, starting with the judiciary, he said.
Relations with Europe were strained during the referendum campaign when Germany and the Netherlands barred Turkish ministers from holding rallies.
The referendum was seen as crucial not just for shaping Turkey's political system but also the future strategic direction of a nation that has been a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member since 1952 and a European Union hopeful for half a century.
Thorbjorn Jagland, secretary general of Europe's top rights watchdog, said Turkish leaders "should consider the next steps carefully.in view of the close result".
In Albania, Gazeta Shqiptare said: "Erdogan won referendum but Istanbul said "No". The result also shows that a united front against Erdogan has a chance of providing an alternative.
After the vote Erdogan repeated his intention to review Turkey's suspension of the death penalty, a step which would nearly certainly spell the end of Ankara's European Union accession process.
The vote shows the polarization of Turkey's politics: just 51.4% of the population supported the changes, with Turkey's three biggest cities all voting 'No.' However, if there's one thing that just about everyone can agree on, it's that these constitutional changes will fundamentally alter the course of Turkey's domestic politics and foreign policy.
The referendum has bitterly divided the nation.
Stability was certainly on the minds of conservative supporters of Erdogan who voted to abandon the decades-old parliamentary system.
In Istanbul, accountant Mete Cetinkaya was anxious about his country's future.
"This is not a text of social consensus but one of social division", Tezcan said.
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