Now this is just troubling. I've seen the news that they cracked down on anti-Erdogan protest even before the polls ended. It seems that even without rigging it was a close match between Yes and No. Why does it seem that since 2016 we are seeing more and more leaders with authoritarian leanings?
I think that now Turkey will never be part of Europe.
And that's almost certainly to Europe's benefit. They don't exactly bring a great deal of positivity to the party.
They probably already realized that. After this event it's becoming increasingly more unlikely they'll be allowed into the EU - which is itself at risk of being disbanded.
Seems that in recent years Turkey has started to instead focus on becoming the head of the Turkic-speaking world. I suppose they would fit that role better than to be the odd one in EU. That could also give them more influence on the world stage.