Thousands protest against Turkish referendum result

Thousands of Turks took to the streets of Turkey on Tuesday to protest the result of Sunday's controversial referendum votes which narrowly granted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greater powers.


The protesters who gathered in the cities of Istanbul, the capital Ankara, the western city of Izmir, the central city of Eskisehir and in others across the country expressed anger about last-minute changes to the referendum voting procedures and an electoral board decision to allow as valid more than a million ballots cast without the official stamp.

Some protesters in the Istanbul district of Beskitas, were heard chanting "thief, murderer, Erdogan," and accused the national electoral commission of partisanship.

About 2,000 people were seen waving red banners with “The “No” is not finished” written over them in the streets in Kadikoy, in Istanbul’s Asian quarter, shouting “We are shoulder to shoulder against fascism.”

Erdogan claimed victory following the referendum votes on Sunday, with an unofficial results showing that the Yes votes won by  51.4 per cent,  a result that is fiercely contested by the opposition and its validity questioned by European observers.

According to report, the fraud allegations came from a decision by the electoral board on Sunday to count as valid some 1.5 million ballots with no official stamp.