Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed a narrow victory in a constitutional referendum which is designed to abolish the post of the Prime Minister and hand over more powers to the President. The details of the changes proposed to the constitution can be read in our previous article here, http://www.econotimes.com/Global-Geo-political-Series-Erdogan-claims-victory-in-key-Turkish-constitutional-referendum-644744

The leaders of the European Union have been warning Turkey since President Erdogan’s crackdown on the opposition after the coup in last July and warned that against the changes proposed to the constitution. Many warned that such an authoritarian regime would not help Turkey to become a member of the European Union and reinstating the death penalty would put an end to the accession talks. The relationship between the EU and Turkey worsened over the past few months as many of the Erdogan’s deputies were banned from campaigning in many EU countries for the referendum.

After winning the referendum, Mr. Erdogan immediately talked about reinstating the death penalty. He said that the proposal will be presented to the parliament and if it fails to pass, the proposal would be put to a referendum. Erdogan is now required to win the next election in order to receive the additional powers proposed in the referendum.