Turkey’s referendum result monitored closely by Cyprus:

The Cypriot government is monitoring with “great caution” the results and the developing situation, following yesterday’s referendum government spokesperson Nikos Christodoulides said on Monday.

On Sunday, Turkish vote went to polls to cast their ballots in a referendum to expand President Tayyip Erdogan’s powers through constitutional amendments.

Specifically, with 100% of the votes counted, Erdogan’s “YES” camp won.

The results were as follows:

YES= 51.41%

NO= 48.59%

Following his win, Erdogan said that that nothing will stop the Turkish people and that he will not step on the “brake”.

He added that Turkey is entering into a new age.

The 18 amendments to the constitution are as follows:

1. Article 9- The judiciary is required to act on condition of impartiality.
2. Article 75- The number of seats in the Parliament is raised from 550 to 600.
3. Article 76- The age requirement to stand as a candidate in an election to be lowered from 25 to 18, while the condition of having to complete compulsory military service is to be removed. Individuals with relations to the military would be ineligible to run for election.
4. Article 77- Parliamentary terms are extended from four to five years. Parliamentary and presidential elections will be held on the same day every five years, with presidential elections going to a run-off if no candidate wins a simple majority in the first round.
5. Article 87- The functions of Parliament are:
Making, changing, and removing laws.
Accepting international contracts.
Discussing, increasing or decreasing budget (on Budget Commission) and accept or reject the budget on General Assembly.
Appoint 7 members of HSYK
And using other powers written in the constitution
5. Article 89- To overcome a presidential veto, the Parliament needs to adopt the same bill with an absolute majority (301).
6. Article 98- Parliament now detects cabinet and Vice President with Parliamentary Research, Parliamentary Investigation, General Discussion and Written Question. Interpellation is abolished and replaced with Parliamentary Investigation. Vice President needs to answer Written Questions within 15 days.
7. Article 101- In order to stand as a presidential candidate, an individual requires the endorsement of one or more parties that won 5% or more in the preceding parliamentary elections and 100,000 voters. The elected president no longer needs to terminate their party membership if they have one.
8. Article 104- The President becomes both the head of state and head of government, with the power to appoint and sack ministers and Vice President. The president can issue decrees about executive. If legislation makes a law about the same topic that President issued an executive order, decree will become invalid and parliamentary law become valid.
9. Article 105- Parliament can open parliamentary investigation with an absolute majority (301). Parliament discusses proposal in 1 month. Following the completion of Discussion, Parliamentary investigation can begin in Parliament with a hidden three-fifths (360) vote in favor. Following the completion of investigations, the parliament can vote to indict the President with a hidden two-thirds (400) vote in favor.
10. Article 106- The President can appoint one or more Vice Presidents. If the Presidency falls vacant, then fresh presidential elections must be held within 45 days. If parliamentary elections are due within less than a year, then they too are held on the same day as early presidential elections. If the parliament has over a year left before its term expires, then the newly elected president serves until the end of the parliamentary term, after which both presidential and parliamentary elections are held. This does not count towards the President’s two-term limit. Parliamentary investigations into possible crimes committed by Vice Presidents and ministers can begin in Parliament with a three-fifths vote in favor. Following the completion of investigations, the parliament can vote to indict Vice Presidents or ministers with a two-thirds vote in favor. If found guilty, the Vice President or minister in question is only removed from office if their crime is one that bars them from running for election. If a sitting MP is appointed as a minister or Vice President, their parliamentary membership will be terminated.
11. Article 116- The President and three-fifths of the Parliament can decide to renew elections. In this case, the enactor also dissolves itself until elections.
12. Article 119- The President’s ability to declare state of emergency is now subject to parliamentary approval to take effect. The Parliament can extend, remove or shorten it. States of emergency can be extended for up to four months at a time except during war, where no such limitation will be required. Every presidential decree issues during a state of emergency will need an approval of Parliament.
13. Article 125- The acts of the President are now subject to judicial review.
Article 142- Military courts are abolished unless they are erected to investigate actions of soldiers under conditions of war.
Article 146- The President used to appoint one Justice from High Military Court of Appeals, and one from the High Military Administrative Court. As military courts are abolished, the number of Justices in the Constitutional Court reduced to 15 from 17. Consequently, presidential appointees reduced to 12 from 14, while the Parliament continues to appoint three.
14. Article 159- Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors is renamed to “Board of Judges and Prosecutors”, members are reduced to 13 from 22, departments are reduced to 2 from 3. 4 members are appointed by President, 7 will be appointed by the Grand Assembly. Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) candidates will need to get 2/3 (400) votes to pass first round and will need 3/5 (360) votes in second round to be a member of HSYK.(Other 2 members are Justice Minister and Ministry of Justice Undersecretary, which is unchanged).
15. Article 161- President proposes fiscal budget to Grand Assembly 75 days prior to fiscal new year. Budget Commission members can make changes to budget but Parliamentary members cannot make proposals to change public expenditures. If the budget is not approved, then a temporary budget will be proposed. If the temporary budget is also not approved, the previous year’s budget would be used with the previous year’s increment ratio.
16. Several articles- Adaptation of several articles of the constitution with other changes, mainly transferring executive powers of cabinet to President
Article 123- President gets power to create States.
17. Temporary Article 21- Next presidential and General elections will be held on 3 November 2019. If Grand Assembly decides early elections, both will be held at the same day. Board of Judges and Prosecutors elections will be made within 30 days of approval of this law. Military courts will be abolished once the law comes into force.
18. Applicability of amendments 1-17- The amendments (2, 4 and 7) will come into force after new elections, other amendments (except temporary article) will come into force once newly elected president is sworn in. Annulled the article which elected Presidents forfeit membership in a political party. This constitutional amendment will be voted in a referendum as a whole.

In Cyprus’ occupied areas Turkish citizens, who went to the polls a week ago, voted “NO”.

Christodoulides added, in a comments following the results in Turkey, that “patience is needed for a completed picture for someone to come to a secure estimation.”

In statements to ANA-MPA news agency, the government spokesperson said that some facts are worth of attention, for example that based on the results “Turkey is a divided country, with the “YES” vote losing in the three major cities, the supporters of “NO” already doubting the results, the occupied areas of Cyprus voted no to the constitutional changes, and some other important facts.”

“Surely, in Turkey we have a unique situation and a result, which among other things and according to public statements from AKP supporters, was expected,” he said.

EU CALLS ON TURKEY TO FIND NATIONAL CONSESUS

The EU’s Commission President Jena Claude Juncker, High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, and the Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said that they noted the result in Turkey, in a joint statement on Sunday night.

In their statement, the three EU officials added: “We are awaiting the assessment of the OSCE/ODHIR International Observation Mission, also with regard to alleged irregularities.”

The EU said that the constitutional amendments and “especially their practical implementation” will be assessed in light of Turkey’s obligations as an EU candidate country and as a member of the Council of Europe.

The statement added: “We encourage Turkey to address the Council of Europe’s concerns and recommendations, including with regards to the State of Emergency. In view of the close referendum result and the far-reaching implications of the constitutional amendments, we also call on the Turkish authorities to seek the broadest possible national consensus in their implementation.”