On Sunday, Turks began voting in a referendum that could grant Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan new extensive powers and provoke the most radical changes in the country’s political system in its modern history. According to public opinion polls, a bloc advocating the expansion of Erdogan’s powers holds a narrow lead. With these constitutional changes, parliamentary democracy would be replaced by a presidential system, and Erdogan could remain in power until 2029.
>>> Erdogan Threatens All Europeans
Ahead of the vote, Kurdish militants killed a bodyguard in an attack on a vehicle transporting a local official from the ruling party in southeastern Turkey on Saturday night, security sources reported. They stated that the militants carried out the attack in the Muradiye district of the southeastern province of Van. Another bodyguard was injured in the attack.
The Referendum Bitterly Divides the Nation
Erdogan and his supporters argue that the changes are necessary to amend the current constitution written by generals after the military coup in 1980, to avoid unstable coalitions, and to ensure that the country can face security and political challenges. Opponents claim that the constitutional changes represent a step towards greater authoritarianism in a country where around 40,000 people have been arrested and 120,000 have been dismissed or suspended in the crackdown following the failed coup attempt.
