Turkey’s ruling AK Party led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the constitutional referendum on Sunday, September 12. The victory of the ‘yes’ camp by 58% against 42, higher than anticipated, is expected to strengthen the AKP ahead of national elections due next year.

The turnover of around 78% appears high, but the authorities had envisaged a fine for those who do not vote. Also, there were around 700,000 invalid votes, a figure which appears surprisingly high. In theory, invalid votes are cast by undecided voters who went to the ballot box but refused to lend support to either the 'yes' or the 'no' fronts. Technical issues were also cited as a reason for invalid votes.

Street clashes marred voting at some polling stations in provinces with large Kurdish populations. Dozens of people were detained in connection with the incidents. Apart from these, the referendum was held in a peaceful atmosphere nationwide, EurActiv reported.