ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Latest on Turkey’s referendum on presidential powers (all times local):
2:55 p.m.
Turkey’s main opposition party has slammed the country’s electoral board, accusing it of bias and favoring the ruling party.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, made the comments during a speech to his lawmakers Tuesday, challenging the outcome of the referendum on constitutional amendments.
“It is clear that the High Electoral Board is not receiving its power from the people, the law or the constitution but rather from a specific center, a specific political authority,” he said. He accused the board of “changing the rules midgame.”
Opposition parties are filing their objections to the electoral board Tuesday for the decision to count as valid ballots that did not bear an official stamp and other alleged irregularities.
CHP vice chairman Erdal Aksunger said the party expects the board “to eliminate fraud and cancel the referendum.”
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2 p.m.
The European Union says that if Turkey moves to reinstate the death penalty it would dash any hope that it could join the bloc.
EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said on Tuesday that if Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan moved “from rhetoric to action on the issue of the death penalty (it) would be clear signal that Turkey does not want to be a member of the European family.”
He said that the death penalty is more than a red line. “This is the reddest of all red lines.”
On Monday, Erdogan renewed suggestions that Turkey could hold referendums on its bid to join the European Union and on reinstating the death penalty.
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1:30 p.m.
The European Union is calling on the Turkish authorities to launch “transparent investigations” into “alleged irregularities” during last weekend’s referendum on increased powers for the country’s presidency.
International election observers and opposition parties have reported numerous voting irregularities during the vote which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won by a narrow margin.
EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said the EU was encouraging “Turkey to move closer to the European Union again, and not to move even further and faster away from us.”
Turkey’s prime minister on Tuesday called on the opposition to respect the result of a referendum that will give sweeping new powers to the office of the president.
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12 p.m.
Turkey’s prime minister has called on the opposition to respect the result of a referendum that will expand the powers of the office of the president.
In an address to legislators from his ruling party on Tuesday, Binali Yildirim said the people had voted to switch from a parliamentary to a presidential system, adding: the “opposition should not speak after the people have spoken.”
An unofficial tally carried by the country’s state-run news agency gave President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “yes” camp a narrow win.
Opposition parties called for the vote to be annulled because of a series of irregularities, particularly an electoral board decision to accept ballots that didn’t bear official stamps, as required by Turkish law.
International monitors said the move undermined safeguards against fraud.
