Turks in Germany conclude voting in referendum at home

Turkish voters living in Germany had their last chance on Sunday to cast ballots in a referendum calling for expanded powers for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while simultaneously weakening Turkey's parliament.

Voting has been going on for the past two weeks at Turkish consulates in Berlin, Hamburg, Hanover, Frankfurt, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Muenster, Karlsruhe and Mainz, as well as four other polling stations set up for the occasion.

Germany's Turkish population is an important demographic for Erdogan, who is campaigning for a "yes" vote that would result in far-reaching changes to the executive branch and allow him to appoint and dismiss ministers. As expected, voting on Sunday was busy.

The ballot boxes will be sealed when voting ends and taken to Turkey to be counted.

More than 1.4 million Turkish voters live in Germany. Some 39 percent of them have already cast their ballots, the state-run Turkish news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday. 

Members of Turkish diaspora communities in Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and France have also been able to cast their votes during the two-week period. Voters in Turkey will vote on the constitutional referendum on 16 April.    (dpa)

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