Trump Calls To Congratulate Turkish President For Greatly Expanding Powers In Controversial Referendum

Haaretz reports:

U.S. President Donald Trump called Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on winning a referendum expanding his authority, sources in Erdogan’s palace said on Monday.

Turkey voted on Sunday to switch to a presidential system, greatly increasing Erdogan’s powers. Unofficial results, which the opposition said it would challenge, showed a narrow victory for him with 51.4 percent of votes cast in favour.

Earlier that day, a defiant Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan denounced the West’s “crusader mentality” after European monitors criticized a referendum to grant him sweeping new powers, won with a narrow victory laying bare the nation’s divisions.

More from CNN:

International election monitors have delivered a scathing verdict on the conduct of Turkey’s controversial referendum to grant expansive new powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Representatives from a coalition of international bodies said the vote took place on an “unlevel playing field” with the “yes” campaign dominating media coverage. Voters were not provided with adequate information, opposition voices were muzzled and the rules were changed at the last minute, they said.

“The legal framework remained inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic referendum,” the monitors’ initial report stated. The conclusions drew a stiff rebuke from Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, which said the monitors’ findings are a “reflection” of a “biased and prejudiced approach.” “The comment that the referendum was below international standards is unacceptable,” the ministry statement said.