Turkish opposition to challenge referendum at European court
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 4th left, accompanied by, from left to right, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Ismail Kahraman, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Turkish Constitutional Court Chairman Zuhtu Arslan and Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, Hulusi Akar, attend a ceremony as part of the 55th anniversary of the founding of Turkey's Constitutional Court, in Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday, April 25, 2017. Legislators representing Europe's top human rights body, the Strasbourg-France-based Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, on Tuesday voted in favour of re-opening monitoring procedures in Turkey in a move that reflects its strong concern over the functioning of democratic institutions in the country.(Press Presidency Press Service Pool Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)
Turkey's main opposition party says it will challenge the outcome of the country's April 16 referendum on expanding the president's powers at the European Court of Human Rights.
The pro-secular Republican People's Party is contesting the referendum over a number of irregularities, including a controversial electoral board decision to count ballot papers that lacked official stamps.
The decision to take the issue to the Strasbourg, France-based court came Wednesday, a day after Turkey's high administrative court rejected its bid to have the decision overturned.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The vote to greatly increase the president's powers was narrowly won by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "yes" side.