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Turkey referendum: Erdoğan wins vote amid dispute over ballots – as it happened

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Turks narrowly vote in favour of president’s plan for sweeping constitutional changes, but opposition parties cry foul

Full report: Erdoğan clinches victory in constitutional referendum

 Updated 
Sun 16 Apr 2017 17.38 EDTFirst published on Sun 16 Apr 2017 09.49 EDT
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Summary

We’re wrapping up our live coverage of the Turkish referendum - for more read Kareem Shaheen’s full wrap here.

  • Unofficial results show Turkish voters have handed President Erdoğan sweeping new powers.
  • The yes campaign won 1.25 million more votes than the no campaign, with about 600,000 votes still to be counted.
  • The yes vote had about 51.3% compared with 48.7% for the no vote, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Turnout exceeded 80%.
  • The three largest cities – Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir – voted against the changes.
  • The main opposition Republican People’s party (CHP) plans to challenge more than a third of the ballot boxes and accused Anadolu of publishing inaccurate results.
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President Erdoğan will chair a cabinet meeting at the presidential palace in Ankara on Monday, CNN Turk reports.

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Turkey should seek the “broadest possible national consensus” in its constitutional amendments given the narrow win for the yes campaign, the European Commission has said.

Unofficial results showed that 51.3% of Turks approved changes to their constitution in the referendum, handing President Erdoğan sweeping new powers.

“In view of the close referendum result and the far-reaching implications of the constitutional amendments, we also call on the Turkish authorities to seek the broadest possible national consensus in their implementation,” the commission said.

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Electoral board chief says yes has won

Erdoğan supporters celebrate in Istanbul. Photograph: Huseyin Aldemir/Reuters

Unofficial results show that Turks have approved changes to their constitution, handing President Erdoğan sweeping new powers in Sunday’s referendum, the head of the country’s high electoral board (YSK) has said.

The yes campaign won 1.25 million more votes than the no campaign and with only about 600,000 votes still to be counted that meant the changes had been approved, YSK chairman Sadi Güven told a news conference in Ankara.

He said the YSK had decided to consider unstamped ballots as valid unless they were proved to be fraudulent, after a high number of complaints – including one from the ruling AK Party – that its officials had failed to stamp some ballot papers.

The no campaign said the last-minute decision raises questions about the validity of the vote. But Güven said the decision was taken before results were entered into the system, and that members of the AKP and the main opposition were present at almost all polling stations and signed off on reports.

Güven said official results were expected in 11 or 12 days.

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The Irish Times journalist Stephen Starr tweets from Istanbul:

A massive protest on the street outside my apartment in Kadikoy right now. Far larger than any here during the Gezi 2013 demos.

— Stephen Starr (@stephenstarr) April 16, 2017
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He adds that the legitimacy of the referendum is open to debate, including legal argument, and that there cannot be consensus about the change to the constitution.

Opposition leader's protest

The head of the main opposition party says the referendum has taken place in “unfair circumstances” and that those on the yes side have gone beyond legal limits.

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BBC journalist Selin Girit tweets:

People banging pots and pans in protest of the result vs people chanting Erdogan's name. Two diverse views. How are they gonna unite?

— Selin Girit (@selingirit) April 16, 2017

More on this story

More on this story

  • Turkish election board rejects calls to annul referendum result

  • Turkey should investigate referendum vote 'irregularities', says EU commission

  • EU leaders urge Erdoğan to show restraint after referendum victory

  • The Guardian view on the Turkish referendum: Erdoğan entrenches himself

  • Turkey vote curtailed fundamental freedoms, say European observers

  • Is Turkey on the road to autocracy? – video explainer

  • Erdoğan's referendum victory unsurprising in a 'strongman' world

  • The Turkish referendum is a victory in name only for Erdoğan

  • Erdoğan clinches victory in Turkish constitutional referendum

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