March 15, 2017•Update: March 15, 2017
By Ferdi Turkten
ANKARA
Turkish citizens abroad will be able to vote in three more countries for the April 16 referendum than in previous elections, according to electoral sources.
The sources at the Supreme Board of Elections, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, said Wednesday that Luxembourg, Singapore, and Iraq have been added to the countries where ballots will be available, all of them additions since the last general elections held in November 2015.
On Nov. 1, 2015, Turkish citizens voted in 113 Turkish missions in 54 countries. On April 16, ballots will be available at 120 missions in 57 countries.
In Turkish missions in Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Denmark, and Switzerland, the voting process will start on March 27 and last through April 9.
In other Turkish missions, the voting will start later but the last day will be the same.
Citizens in Japan, China, and South Africa will be able to vote at Turkish missions there for one day only: April 9.
At customs gates, voting will start on March 27 and will last through the day of domestic balloting, April 16.
The constitutional changes have been discussed since Recep Tayyip Erdogan won his current position in August 2014 -- Turkey’s first popularly elected president.
The reforms would hand wide-ranging executive powers to the president, and the post of prime minister would be abolished. The president would also be allowed to retain ties to a political party.
Other changes would see the minimum age for parliamentary candidates lowered to 18 and the number of deputies rise to 600. Under the new constitution, simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections for a five-year term would be held in November 2019.
