Zurie
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- Jul 6, 2014
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Voting is under way in Turkey in a landmark referendum that will determine whether President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be granted sweeping new powers.
Mr Erdogan's supporters say replacing the parliamentary system with an executive presidency would modernise the country but opponents fear it could lead to greater authoritarianism.
A "Yes" vote could also see Mr Erdogan remain in office until 2029.
Two people were shot dead near a polling station in the south-east.
The cause of the incident, in Diyarbakir province, was not immediately clear but there appears to have been a dispute between two rival groups.
About 55 million people are eligible to vote across 167,000 polling stations, with the results expected to be announced late on Sunday evening.
Opinion polls suggest a narrow lead for "Yes".
How significant are the changes?
They would represent the most sweeping programme of constitutional changes since Turkey became a republic almost a century ago.
Mr Erdogan would be given vastly enhanced powers to appoint cabinet ministers, issue decrees, choose senior judges and dissolve parliament.
The new system would scrap the role of prime minister and concentrate power in the hands of the president, placing all state bureaucracy under his control.
Mr Erdogan says the changes are needed to address Turkey's security challenges nine months after an attempted coup, and to avoid the fragile coalition governments of the past.
"This public vote is [about] a new governing system in Turkey, a choice about change and transition," he said after casting his vote in Istanbul.
The new system, he argues, will resemble those in France and the US and will bring calm in a time of turmoil marked by a Kurdish insurgency, Islamist militancy and conflict in neighbouring Syria, which has led to a huge refugee influx.
Source: BBC
Mr Erdogan's supporters say replacing the parliamentary system with an executive presidency would modernise the country but opponents fear it could lead to greater authoritarianism.
A "Yes" vote could also see Mr Erdogan remain in office until 2029.
Two people were shot dead near a polling station in the south-east.
The cause of the incident, in Diyarbakir province, was not immediately clear but there appears to have been a dispute between two rival groups.
About 55 million people are eligible to vote across 167,000 polling stations, with the results expected to be announced late on Sunday evening.
Opinion polls suggest a narrow lead for "Yes".
How significant are the changes?
They would represent the most sweeping programme of constitutional changes since Turkey became a republic almost a century ago.
Mr Erdogan would be given vastly enhanced powers to appoint cabinet ministers, issue decrees, choose senior judges and dissolve parliament.
The new system would scrap the role of prime minister and concentrate power in the hands of the president, placing all state bureaucracy under his control.
Mr Erdogan says the changes are needed to address Turkey's security challenges nine months after an attempted coup, and to avoid the fragile coalition governments of the past.
"This public vote is [about] a new governing system in Turkey, a choice about change and transition," he said after casting his vote in Istanbul.
The new system, he argues, will resemble those in France and the US and will bring calm in a time of turmoil marked by a Kurdish insurgency, Islamist militancy and conflict in neighbouring Syria, which has led to a huge refugee influx.
Source: BBC
