On Tuesday 18 April, the European Commission called for a transparent investigation into the irregularities that reportedly took place in the constitutional referendum in Turkey on 16 April.
The constitutional amendments were approved in a referendum with 51.4% of the votes, and the referendum was described by the OSCE as unequal due to a lack of equal opportunities, unilateral media coverage and limits on fundamental freedoms.
Taking note and having "examined attentively" the statement of the referendum observers' missions, European Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas said that the Commission called on "the authorities to launch transparent investigations into alleged irregularities found by the observers". It also urged all actors to show restraint – with the main opposition party wanting to lodge an appeal in order to call for an annulment of the referendum, and with Turkey's president having announced that he would not take account of the observers' reports.
"In view of these observers' reports, the close referendum result and the far-reaching implications of the constitutional amendments, we call on the Turkish authorities to consider the next steps very carefully and to seek the broadest possible national consensus in the follow-up to the referendum", Schinas said.
Earlier, in a press release published just after the referendum results on 16 April, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn had called on the Turkish authorities to seek consensus. They warned that "the constitutional amendments, and especially their practical implementation, will be assessed in light of Turkey's obligations as a European Union candidate country and as a member of the Council of Europe".
The EU foreign affairs ministers were expected to discuss the situation in Turkey at their informal meeting on 28 April. Schinas also said that Juncker had encouraged Turkey on several occasions in the past to move closer to the European Union and not move even further and faster away from it.
Erdogan provokes
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is nevertheless distancing his country from the EU. After the referendum result, he spoke of a new vote on re-establishing the death penalty – a red line for the EU and the Council of Europe. According to Schinas, "moving from words to action would be a clear signal that Turkey does not want to be a member of the European family". Erdoğan would like to put his country's EU accession to a vote.
Parliament calls again for negotiations to be stopped
The leaders of the European Parliament's EPP, ALDE and S&D Groups have called for a stop to the EU accession negotiations. In the opinion of EPP Group leader, Manfred Weber, "the referendum is a historic break. Turkey is departing from the rule of law and democracy". Europe must therefore "re-assess the situation. Our relations need a new start (...) Turkish accession to the EU becomes irrelevant. After the development of recent months, we can't continue as if nothing has happened", he said. Speaking for the ALDE Group, Guy Verhofstadt said that the constitutional amendments "not only granted authoritarian powers to the president" but "also disrupt democratic controls". What is more, the referendum on which these powers are based "does not respond to the standards of the Council of Europe", he added, saying that "the only logical conclusion to all this is that the EU should immediately stop the accession negotiations and rethink its relationship with Turkey".
"Erdoğan has closed his doors to the EU with this referendum. The accession talks should be suspended once Turkey decides to implement the 18 constitutional amendments", S&D Group leader Gianni Pittella stated. While "Erdogan is increasingly transforming Turkey into a personal authoritarian regime", "Europe cannot close its eyes and remain silent – and Europe will not do so", Pittella said.
The European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, Kati Piri (S&D, Netherlands), described the referendum day as "a sad day for all democrats in Turkey". "It is clear that the country cannot join the EU with a constitution that does not respect the separation of powers, and that does not have checks and balances. If the package is implemented as it stands, this will have to lead to the formal suspension of EU accession negotiations. Continuing to talk about Turkey's integration into Europe in the current circumstances has become a farce", Piri added. Nevertheless, "the results show that there are millions of Turkish citizens who share the same European values and who have chosen a different future for their country. The EU should never close the door to them", she said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)