38,000 Turks abroad cast votes on first day of charter referendum voting

ISTANBUL

Some 38,000 Turkish citizens living abroad cast their votes on the first day of voting in the constitutional referendum to decide on whether to shift the country to an executive presidential system with vastly enhanced powers for the president.

According to information obtained by the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Overseas Election Coordination Center, 38,000 people voted on the first day, which is much more than in the Nov. 1, 2015 general election, in which some 10,000 citizens living abroad voted in the first day. 

Turkish citizens cast their votes in Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Denmark and Switzerland. 

There are around 3 million Turkish citizens abroad who are eligible to vote in the referendum in 120 Turkish missions in 57 countries.     

Hundreds of expatriates lined up at consulates in Germany, which has 1.4 million eligible Turkish voters, and in other European countries ahead of the referendum. 

A bitter row was prompted earlier this month when Germany and the Netherlands blocked campaign events by Turkish ministers, leading President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to accuse both countries of using “Nazi” methods.