ENABLING ACT 2: TURKEY VOTES TODAY ON WHETHER OR NOT TO GRANT ERDOGAN NEARLY UNLIMITED DICTATORIAL POWERS
The referendum has bitterly divided the nation. Erdogan and his supporters say the changes are needed to amend the current constitution, written by generals following a 1980 military coup, confront the security and political challenges Turkey faces, and avoid the fragile coalition governments of the past.
by Geoffrey Grider
NowTheEndBegins.com
April 16, 2017
TURKS VOTE IN A HOTLY CONTESTED REFERENDUM ON SUNDAY THAT COULD PLACE SWEEPING NEW POWERS IN THE HANDS OF PRESIDENT TAYYIP ERDOGAN AND HERALD THE MOST RADICAL CHANGE TO THE COUNTRY’S POLITICAL SYSTEM IN ITS MODERN HISTORY.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Turkey ‘s Islamist president loves to surround himself in the bold red, black and white colors so associated with Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party. He also loves to raise his hands in a gesture reminiscent of the Nazi “hiel” salute. Hitler seized ultimate power when he asked the German citizenry to vote on the Enabling Act in 1933. Today, Erdogan walks in those same footsteps as the Turks vote on granting the same type of powers to him. Is history repeating itself? The outcome of today’s vote will decide that.
Opinion polls have given a narrow lead for a “Yes” vote, which would replace Turkey’s parliamentary democracy with an all-powerful presidency and may see Erdogan in office until at least 2029.
The outcome will also shape Turkey’s strained relations with the European Union. The NATO member state has curbed the flow of migrants – mainly refugees from wars in Syria and Iraq – into the bloc but Erdogan says he may review the deal after the vote.
Some 55 million people are eligible to vote at 167,140 polling stations across the nation, which open at 7.00 am (0400 GMT) in the east of the country and close at 5 pm (1400 GMT). Turkish voters abroad have already cast their ballots.
HOW TURKEY’S PRESIDENT COULD GET EVEN MORE POWER
The Rest…HERE
