Turkish official hopes overseas turnout in referendum

By Hayati Akcay

ORDU, Turkey (AA) - Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus on Tuesday called for a high turnout of Turkish voters living abroad for the upcoming constitutional referendum.

Speaking at an airport in Turkey's Ordu province on the Black Sea coast, he said overseas voters would “show their belonging to Turkey” by casting their ballots.

“We are therefore asking for the highest level of participation from our citizens,” he said.

Turkish nationals living in Europe started voting Monday in a referendum on moving to a presidential system that will be held on April 16 in Turkey.

Around 3 million Turkish expats are eligible to vote in 120 diplomatic missions in 57 countries. The voting will end on April 9.

Kurtulmus said the government was supporting local media, pointing to a planned meeting between more than 500 media members and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“One of these supports was lowering Anadolu Agency's price tag on subscription,” he said. The cost of satellite operator Turksat was also lowered, he added.

“It’s our duty to support our Anatolian media, which stood on the side of democracy and the national will on July 15 and the 17-25 December process,” Kurtulmus said, referring to last July’s attempted coup and the 2013 attempt to target the government.