7:11 p.m. The ‘yes’ votes for the country’s key referendum on shifting the governance system to an executive presidency are ahead of the ‘no’ votes, according to initial results.
Percentage of ballot boxes opened: 90.0
YES: 52.4
NO: 47.6
6:50 p.m. - The ‘yes’ votes for the country’s key referendum on shifting the governance system to an executive presidency are ahead of the ‘no’ votes, according to initial results.
Percentage of ballot boxes opened: 80.9
YES: 53.6
NO: 46.4
6:35 p.m. - The ‘yes’ votes for the country’s key referendum on shifting the governance system to an executive presidency are ahead of the ‘no’ votes, according to initial results.
Percentage of ballot boxes opened: 70.9
YES: 54.8
NO: 45.2
6:25 p.m. - The ‘yes’ votes for the country’s key referendum on shifting the governance system to an executive presidency are ahead of the ‘no’ votes, according to initial results.
Percentage of ballot boxes opened: 61.4
YES: 56.0
NO: 44.0
6:15 p.m. - The ‘yes’ votes for the country’s key referendum on shifting the governance system to an executive presidency are ahead of the ‘no’ votes, according to initial results.
Percentage of ballot boxes opened: 51.1
YES: 57.5
NO: 42.5
6:05 p.m. - The ‘yes’ votes for the country’s key referendum on shifting the governance system to an executive presidency are ahead of the ‘no’ votes, according to initial results.
Percentage of ballot boxes opened: 40.2
YES: 59.4
NO: 40.6
6:01 p.m. - The Supreme Election Board (YSK) announced it lifted the gag order on media.
5:57 p.m. - The ‘yes’ votes for the country’s key referendum on shifting the governance system to an executive presidency are ahead of the ‘no’ votes, according to initial results.
Percentage of ballot boxes opened: 32
YES: 61.3
NO: 38.7
Voter Turnout: %84:05
5:50 p.m. - The ‘yes’ votes for the country’s key referendum on shifting the governance system to an executive presidency are ahead of the ‘no’ votes, according to initial results.
Percentage of ballot boxes opened:25
YES:63.2
NO: 36.8
Voter Turnout:%83.89
5:03 p.m. - The Supreme Election Board (YSK) announced it would accept unsealed ballot papers in the voting.
5:00 p.m. – Polls were closed at 5:00 p.m. across Turkey. The first results of the votes will be released after election silence is lifted.
4:00 p.m. - Polls were closed at 4 p.m. in the eastern and southeastern provinces of Adıyaman, Ağrı, Artvin, Bingöl, Bitlis, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Erzincan, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Hakkari, Kars, Malatya, Kahramanmaraş, Mardin, Muş, Ordu, Rize, Siirt, Sivas, Trabzon, Tunceli, Şanlıurfa, Van, Bayburt, Batman, Şırnak, Ardahan, Iğdır and Kilis.
3:40 p.m. - Supreme Election Board (YSK) head Sadi Güven said in a statement that seals featuring the word “yes” instead of “choice” would be counted as valid.
He also stated that ballot papers on which YSK seals were applied to the front instead of the back would also be deemed valid.
Earlier, “yes” seals had been distributed to voters in the Reyhanlı district of the southern province of Hatay before being collected and replaced with the original “choice” ones.
3:23 p.m. - EU Minister Ömer Çelik cast his vote in the southern province of Adana.
“Now the nation has the word and the decision. I expect a powerful result for the future of our country. God willing everything will be fine,” Çelik said.
2:45 p.m. - Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar cast his vote in a school in the Çankaya district of Ankara where authorities earlier searched for biological and chemical weapons.
12:30 p.m. - Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli cast his vote in Ankara, calling it a significant turning point in the life of the nation.
“I’m happy that I carried out my civic duty. Turkish politics will head toward a new structuring regarding the future,” he told journalists.
11:45 a.m. - President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan cast his vote in Istanbul, calling the referendum not an ordinary vote.
“This referendum is not an ordinary voting. We had plenty of elections aimed at the parliamentary system in the history of the Republic. We had some referendums, but this one is to decide whether to change the governance system. I believe that our people will decide for a faster development and even a leap forward. I believe that my people will walk toward the future by making their decision,” Erdoğan told journalists, adding that he will follow the results in Istanbul.
“It seems like there will be a serious participation,” he said.
The first polling stations opened on April 16 in Turkey's tightly contested referendum that will decide whether the current parliamentary system should be shifted into an executive presidency.
Over 55.3 million Turks are able to vote in the referendum.
If the “yes” vote prevails, the 18 constitutional changes will convert Turkey’s system of government from parliamentary to presidential, abolish the office of the prime minister and grant extensive executive powers to the president.
Polling stations opened in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır and other cities of eastern and southeastern Turkey at 7 a.m., while voting in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities nationwide began at 8 a.m. The voting process in the east and southeast will end at 4 p.m. and polls will be closed in the rest of the country at 5 p.m.
The “yes” vote is endorsed by President Erdoğan, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the leadership of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), while the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were campaigning for a “no” vote.
As the rival sides held rallies up until the last hour of legal campaigning on April 15 to sway undecided voters, Erdoğan said that the ‘yes’ camp had victory in the bag.
But he urged people not to succumb to “lethargy” in voting, saying “the stronger result the better.”
“A ‘yes’ that emerges from the ballot box with the highest margin will be a lesson to the West,” he said in the Sarıyer district of Istanbul.
Erdoğan has warned Brussels that in the event of a “yes” vote he would sign any bill agreed by parliament to reinstate capital punishment, a move that would automatically end its EU bid.
The state-run Anadolu Agency reported that military helicopters flew ballots and elections officers to some districts of Diyarbakır due to security reasons.
If approved in the referendum, the proposed changes will grant the president the power to appoint ministers and senior government officials, appoint half the members in Turkey’s highest judicial body, issue decrees and declare states of emergency. It sets a limit of two five-year terms for presidents. The changes would come into effect with the next general elections, scheduled for 2019.
Date: 16/04/2017
