Turkish foreign minister says vote heralds ‘new Turkey’

ANKARA

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has hailed his government’s narrow win in the constitutional referendum as the birth of a “new Turkey,” as many countries have congratulated President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. 

“As of now, there is a truly new Turkey. There will be stability and trust in the new Turkey,” Çavuşoğlu told a group of supporters in the southern province of Antalya on April 16.

Foreign leaders have congratulated Erdoğan after the “yes” votes emerged in the constitutional referendum on April 16. According to presidential sources, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was the first leader to call and congratulate the president. 

Aliyev congratulated Erdoğan and the people of Turkey on “the successful conduct of a referendum on amendments to the Turkish constitution and on the majority of the population’s voting for these amendments.” 

Aliyev described the results of the referendum as the Turkish people’s “great support for Erdoğan’s policy.”

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also congratulated Erdoğan. 

Meanwhile, Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjørn Jagland has released a statement regarding the referendum results, saying that “in view of the close result the Turkish leadership should consider the next steps carefully.”

“The Turkish electorate has voted on the amendments to the constitution. In view of the close result the Turkish leadership should consider the next steps carefully. It is of utmost importance to secure the independence of the judiciary in line with the principle of rule of law enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. The Council of Europe, of which Turkey is a full member, stands ready to support the country in this process,” the statement read. 

Another statement was released from Germany, with Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel saying that “it was good that the Turkish referendum was over and urged people to remain calm.”

“It looks like it will be a close result, as expected. However the vote of the Turkish people turns out in the end, we’d be well advised to keep calm and to proceed in a level-headed way,” Gabriel said in a statement. 

“It’s good that election campaign, which was fought so bitterly, including here in Germany, is now over,” said Gabriel, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD) - the junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition.