Turkey angry at EU call for investigation into referendum results

Turkey’s government has hit back at the European Union after Brussels called for an investigation into alleged irregularities in the country’s referendum, Sky News wrote on Tuesday.

As many as 2.5 million votes could have been manipulated in Sunday’s poll which saw a narrow “yes” vote to grant expanded presidential powers, according to observers, Sky News added.

But the EU’s call for a probe was blasted as “unacceptable” by Turkish government minister Omer Celik, who urged the bloc to “respect democratic processes”.

European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas had said: “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 national referendum.”

The Council of Europe, which monitored the referendum, claimed it was an uneven contest as the “yes” side had dominated campaign coverage, with the arrest of journalists and the closure of media outlets silencing other views, according to Sky News.