Turkey referendum: First results show Erdogan camp set to win

Partial official results indicate Turks have voted to grant President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers in a referendum.

With more than 50% of ballots counted, the "Yes" vote was on 58% and "No" on about 42% but the results may not be representative of the entire country.

Erdogan supporters say replacing the parliamentary system with an executive presidency would modernise the country.

A "Yes" vote could also see Mr Erdogan remain in office until 2029.

Three people were shot dead near a polling station in the south-eastern province of Diyarbakir, reportedly during a dispute over how they were voting.

About 55 million people were eligible to vote across 167,000 polling stations.

Mr Erdogan says the changes are needed to address Turkey's security challenges nine months after an attempted coup, and to avoid the fragile coalition governments of the past.

"This public vote is (about) a new governing system in Turkey, a choice about change and transition," he said after casting his vote in Istanbul.

The new system, he argues, will resemble those in France and the US and will bring calm in a time of turmoil marked by a Kurdish insurgency, Islamist militancy and conflict in neighbouring Syria, which has led to a huge refugee influx.

Critics of the proposed changes fear the move would make the president's position too powerful, arguing that it would amount to one-man rule, without the checks and balances of other presidential systems.

SOURCE: BBC News