The outcome of Turkey's April 16 referendum wasn't exactly the victory President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was aiming for: clear support for constitutional amendments that would give him more executive power than even republic founder Kemal Ataturk had envisioned for himself. Dissent was strong in the country's largest cities, and European officials also have registered their disapproval.
Before the results were even announced, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim delivered the first victory speech of the night, not Erdogan himself. But with Erdogan's pragmatism, which for all practical purposes is necessary for his survival, he was quick to give a speech declaring victory, even as the results of the referendum were being contested with allegations of irregularities and fraud. Given the controversy of the neck-and-neck results blemished with the allegations of rigging, Erdogan couldn't resist — but he did not look confident or triumphant.
In an unusually brief and uncharacteristically muted speech, with a stony expression on his face, he insisted he had won the contested referendum and called on the outside world for acknowledgment. He once again mentioned enacting capital punishment.
According to official figures, approval for an executive presidency — which many Turks believe will amount to a one-man rule — came out with roughly 51.4% of the vote, while the "no" votes made up 48.6%. Turnout was measured at 83.3%. There were 24,325,985 “yes” votes counted against 23,189,021 “no” votes — a difference of 1,136,964. More than 800,000 votes were invalidated because they weren't clearly marked or weren't submitted properly. However, even as the voting was underway, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) registered a complaint with the Supreme Election Board, alleging 2.5 million ballots were used without official seals on them. Under Turkish election law, those ballots would have to be considered invalid. Yet the Supreme Election Board, known to be close to Erdogan, dismissed the allegations.
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