The Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Ministry acknowledges the results of the referendum held in Turkey on Sunday (April 16). "We hope that representatives of Turkey will strive for a nationwide consensus in the process of implementing constitutional changes," stated ministry's spokesperson Peter Susko for the TASR press agency. The majority of voters opted to bolster the powers of the Turkish president and switch the political system from a parliamentary to a presidential one.
Euractiv.sk analyst Lucia Yar said that it's incorrect to expect that relations between Turkey and the EU will deteriorate quickly following the referendum. "The EU and countries such as Germany and the Netherlands are listed among the most important trading partners of Turkey. And although the rhetoric employed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been more than harsh towards the West in recent weeks, it stands to reason that it was linked to referendum campaigning. Furthermore, observers and analysts know that this exact form of anti-Western rhetoric can rile up large crowds and incite emotions in Turkey," she said. Yar views Turkey as a bridge between East and West. "On one hand, there's a high level of development and economic interests at work with the West for decades. On the other, there's a growing desire to lay claim to a more important position on the global political scene and among Muslim nations. These are the current characteristics defining Erdogan's policies as well," she said.
