White House confirms Trump congratulated Erdogan on referendum

The White House confirmed that Trump congratulated his Turkish counterpart on securing a referendum victory that significantly expands his presidential powers. 

The White House confirmed earlier this week that US President Donald Trump had called Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on his reported victory in a vote over a referendum this past Sunday that significantly expands his political powers.

“President Donald J. Trump spoke today with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to congratulate him on his recent referendum victory,” the White House stated.

Originally, the Turkish government-run Anadolu news agency quoted government sources as saying that “Trump called Erdogan (on Monday night) and congratulated him on his success in the referendum.”

The referendum essentially transfers many parliamentary responsibilities to Turkey’s presidency and removes the role of prime minister, allowing the president to become the chief executive and head of state.

Additionally, not only will the president be able to select ministers in the government, but he will also have much more influence and legislation power. However, the Parliament will increase its membership from 550 to 600 and have the power to impeach the president.

Observers Question Legitimacy of Election Results

Although election authorities in Turkey said that just over 51 percent of the participating electorate voted in favor of the referendum, international observers questioned the veracity of results, including Alev Korun, an Austrian member of the Council of Europe’s observer team.

“This is about the fact that actually the law only allows official voting envelopes,” Reuters quoted Korun as saying to ORF radio.

“The highest election authority decided, however – as it were, against the law – that envelopes without official stamp should be admitted,” she continued. “There is a suspicion that up to 2.5 million votes could have been manipulated.”

Other officials referenced manipulation of the vote with a “skewed pre-vote campaign” in favor of the “yes” vote and intimidation of the opposition. Erdogan dismissed the concerns of the international observers, telling them instead to “know their place.”

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

Turkey