Worldwide observers from the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the referendum campaign was conducted on an "unlevel playing field" and the vote count itself was marred by the late procedural changes that removed key safeguards.
But the opposition immediately cried foul over alleged violations, claiming that a clean vote would have made a difference of several percentage points and handed them victory.
Monitors from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) are to give their own assessment of the vote at 1200 GMT.
Echoing the opposition party's concern, the OSCE report noted that "the Supreme Board of Elections (YSK) issued instructions late in the day that significantly changed the ballot validity criteria, undermining an important safeguard and contradicting the law".
"What George, Hans or Helga say does not interest us", he said, using typical European names.
In a bid to get back to business, Erdogan was on Monday to chair a cabinet and security meeting at his presidential palace that could extend the nine-month state of emergency brought in after the July 15 failed coup, Turkish media said.
But Gulnur Aybet, a senior adviser to Mr Erdogan, told Sky News the "Yes" side had won "fair and square" and the reported number of ballot papers accepted without an official stamp was a "gross exaggeration".
Erdogan responded to the report Monday by telling the European observers to "know your place".
He has warned opponents not to "belittle" his narrow victory, but the main opposition party has demanded the result be cancelled because the referendum was won through "illegal acts".
Leicester hopeful of Morgan return for Atletico clash
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Real Madrid are heavy favourites to progress against Bayern Munich after winning 2-1 in Germany. The nature of their opening goal, after only seven minutes, therefore surprised for more than one reason.
Based on Sunday's count of the ballot, 51.3 percent of the voters approved changes to Turkish constitution, empowering the office of the president.
"There are those who are belittling the result". Citing the views of her contacts in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), she said it was clear to them that the more educated and urban classes had voted against the constitutional changes, while the less educated classes voted en masse for the proposed changes, which means in effect that they voted for Erdoğan's leadership, rather than the constitution as such.
The head of the country's electoral board confirmed the win shortly after Mr Erdogan spoke and said the final results would be known in 11-12 days.
Trump has already been at odds with Merkel, who has taken up the mantle of traditional pro-freedom western democracy as more authoritarian leaders like Trump and United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May took power.
With the majority of voters checking "yes", the change to the constitution will allow the victor of the 2019 presidential election to assume full control of the government, ending the parliamentary political system.
Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast and its three main cities, including the capital Ankara and the largest city Istanbul, looked set to vote "No" after a bitter and divisive campaign.
The initial reaction from Turkey's Western allies was far from ebullient, with top European Union officials saying Turkey had to find the "broadest possible" agreement on the changes in view of the closeness of the result.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening of the new terminal of Aden Abdulle International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia on January 25.
Turkey is now under a state of emergency after an attempted coup in July of 2016, and Bloomberg reports that "40,000 of Erdogan's alleged opponents have been jailed, and at least 100,000 more fired by decree".
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