Angela Merkel
A referendum in Turkey on introducing amendments to the Constitution has seriously complicated relations between Brussels and Ankara. On Thursday, April 27, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reports Focus-Online.
“We respect the right of the Turkish people to decide on the introduction of a constitutional amendment,” she said, noting that a great concern reports of violations during the voting. “The Turkish government should take this into account”, — added the Chancellor, speaking in the Bundestag.
According to the head of the German government, that “Turkey finally turned away from Europe, it is not good.”
On 26 April the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara could revise its stance on the issue of EU membership if Brussels will continue to stall for time.
16 April, Turkey held a referendum on amendments to the basic law of the country. According to preliminary results, the amendment was supported by 51.4 percent of the vote.
The mission of OSCE observers declared that the referendum did not meet the standards of the Council of Europe: voters have not received objective information about the reform on a number of stations had no observers from non-governmental organizations, the opposition has not received sufficient access to the media.