Sir, – The result of the referendum in Turkey will weaken the parliament and give President Erdogan even more influence on the judiciary. Parliament’s right of control – the vote of no confidence – will be abolished. Mr Erdogan will now also have great influence on the constitution of the “Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors”, the disciplinary body of the Turkish legal system.
Do we have to accept it as a free decision when the Turkish people democratically decide to virtually abolish the system of checks and balances, an essential part of democracy? No.
Democratic decisions require informed and empowered citizens. But the entire campaign before the referendum was not fair. Election campaign events of the naysayers were dispersed by the police. In addition the media coverage was a farce.
Since July 2016 a total of 158 different media outlets have been closed. Several thousand media workers and journalists are now unemployed or even imprisoned.
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The media outlets that still appear were almost completely on the Yes side.
Hence this was not a democratically legitimate decision. Mr Erdogan has systematically targeted those institutions that prevent the misuse of power in democratic countries.
Therefore we must continue to confront him and his autocratic regime. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL PFEIFFER,
Neuhausen auf den Fildern,
Germany.