Ankara Claims Kurdish Regions Surprisingly Backed Presidential Powers' Expansion

The Turkish government claims that Kurdish regions surprisingly voted for the expansion of presidential powers at the recent referendum.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkey's constitutional changes were unexpectedly supported in the regions with Kurdish majority at the recent referendum, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Wednesday.

"Another important development was that the 'yes' campaign received more support in predominantly Kurdish parts of Turkey than originally anticipated," Kalin wrote in his article for the Daily Sabah newspaper.

Kalin wrote, citing unofficial results, that the constitutional changes were supported by 50.8 percent of voters in the province of Mus, although the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) had only 24.8 percent there in the 2015 parliamentary elections.

“In Diyarbakir, Siirt, Van and Mardin, a similar change could be observed," the spokesman wrote.

Turkish voters went to polling stations on Sunday to either support or reject government-backed constitutional changes that would convert the country's governance system into a presidential republic and therefore increase presidential powers.

The preliminary results showed that the amendments to the constitution were approved by 51.41 percent of votes with all ballots counted.