Turkey clears more powers for president

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan casts his vote accompanied by his wife Emine Erdogan (3rd right) and their grandchildren at a polling station in the Uskudar district of Istanbul on Sunday

Votes for constitutional changes to hand Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers stood at 52.8 per cent after 90 per cent of ballots were opened on Sunday, state news agency Anadolu said, as the "Yes" lead narrowed in the final stages.
The proportion of votes against the changes rose steadily and in Istanbul, Turkey's biggest city, they had a slight lead with 88 percent of ballot boxes opened, data from Anadolu showed.
A "Yes" vote would replace Turkey's parliamentary democracy with an all-powerful presidency and may see Erdogan in office until at least 2029, in the most radical change to the country's political system in its modern history.
The outcome will also shape Turkey's strained relations with the European Union. The Nato member state has curbed the flow of migrants - mainly refugees from wars in Syria and Iraq - into the bloc but Erdogan says he may review the deal after the vote.
A crowd chanted "Recep Tayyip Erdogan" and applauded as the president shook hands and greeted people after voting in a school near his home in Istanbul. His staff handed out toys for children in the crowd.
"God willing I believe our people will decide to open the path to much more rapid development," Erdogan said in the polling station after casting his vote.
"I believe in my people's democratic common sense."
Broadcaster Haberturk said turnout was 86 per cent. The "Yes" percentage of the vote - which stood at 63 per cent after around one quarter had been opened - eased as the count came further west towards Istanbul and the Aegean coast. The opposition People's Republican Party (CHP) said a last-minute decision by the electoral board to accept unstamped ballots as valid votes put the vote in question.
"We will pursue a legal battle. If the irregularities are not fixed, there will be a serious legitimacy discussion," CHP deputy chairman Bulent Tezcan said.
The referendum has bitterly divided the nation. Erdogan and his supporters say the changes are needed to amend the current constitution, written by generals following a 1980 military coup, confront the security and political challenges Turkey faces, and avoid the fragile coalition governments of the past.
"This is our opportunity to take back control of our country," said self-employed Bayram Seker, 42, after voting "Yes" in Istanbul.
"I don't think one-man rule is such a scary thing. Turkey has been ruled in the past by one man," he said, referring to modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Opponents say it is a step towards greater authoritarianism in a country where some 47,000 people have been jailed pending trial and 120,000 sacked or suspended from their jobs in a crackdown following a failed coup, drawing criticism from Turkey's Western allies and rights groups.