Results of the nationwide referendum in Turkey on amending the constitution showed that Turkish society is divided today, the head of the political research of the Center for Modern Turkish Studies, Yuri Mavashev, said in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza, commenting on the fact that only 51% of those who came to polling stations voted in support of the amendments that will turn Turkey into presidential republic.
"One of the main consequences of this plebiscite will be that the fact that Turkish society will divide even more. This polarization, which we have been observing for a long time, is currently at an unprecedented level, and there's no reason to believe that it will somehow change for the better in the future. Supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan will support him in all undertakings even more radically, while opponents - oppose him even more," Mavashev stressed.
In his opinion, due to this, Erdogan's victory in the referendum is pretty relative. "He didn't find any consensus or peace in his country. Erdogan achieved only a pyrrhic victory in the referendum. After all, authorities expected that at least 60% of voters will support them. Minimal victory definitely wasn't enough for Erdogan, and he couldn't achieve the desired result of 60%. I think he is aware of this and will be able to take steps in order to not divide the country even more. Maybe make domestic policy less radical," the expert hopes.
He believes that victory will make Erdogan's foreign policy even more strict. "It's not yet clear how much it will affect Russia, but there are certain hopes that it won't thanks to Russian-Turkish cooperation in Syria, where Ankara doesn't want new conflict with Moscow," Mavashev concluded.
