Mediaboss Marketing

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan spoke for the first time about the national referendum after parliament approved the constitutional reform package at the opening ceremony of a new metro line in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday.

The people will make the ultimate choice when we go to a referendum. I believe the people will vote for what is right," said Erdoan.

The constitutional reform bill was approved overnight with 339 votes in the 550-member assembly.

Turkish lawmakers approved a new Constitution early Saturday as deputies completed voting on 18 articles. A total of 339 MPs voted in favor of the law that will now head to a referendum that will likely be held in early April. The initial round of ballots on the reforms was completed after each passed with more than 340 votes. A second round of voting on the 18 articles began Wednesday after almost three weeks of debates in parliament. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, who also chairs the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, congratulated lawmakers for passing the constitutional changes. People will have the final say," he told deputies. "We have done our job. Now we convey the issue to its real owner, our people," Yildirim said. "People's vote will be the most accurate one." Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli told lawmakers, "The Turkish nation will do its own evaluation and hopefully it will add to what have been achieved so far" But main opposition leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, urged Turks to "spoil the game that was played in the parliament. "The mistake that have been done in the parliament can be revoked by the people," Kilicdaroglu said. Proposed changes to the Constitution require a simple majority, or 51 percent, in the referendum.

The President called his supporters to work day in and day out" throughout the referendum campaign.

"My people will give the final decision... I believe this referendum period will conclude with the will of our people," said Erdoan.

The legislation aims to bring stability at a time of turmoil and unrest, and prevent the fragile coalitions of the past.

Erdoan said the metro line will be further developed to span across even more of Istanbul.

The Kadky-Tavantepe metro line that we are opening today expands Istanbul's rapid transit line of the metro to 150 kilometers. The part of the line that extends to Sabiha Gken Airport will be completed by 2019. It is our aim to expand Istanbul's metro line to 260 kilometers," he said.

The President also spoke about the rocket attacks that were launched on the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's local headquartes on Friday.

They can attack AK Party as much as they want. We have devoted all we have to this path," he said.

The AK Party provincial head, Selim Temurci, reported that the rocket did not explode despite piercing the wall of the building and pointed to the involvement of the ultra-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).

Istanbul police arrested Saturday five suspects over the rocket attacks that targeted the provincial police headquarters and the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party headquarters in Istanbul on Friday evening, a police source said. Security forces raided 15 addresses across Turkey's largest city, and five people were taken into custody over suspected links to the attackers, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said on Twitter late Friday that no one was injured in the attack on the police headquarters, and an investigation had been launched.No injuries were reported after the attack on the AK Party headquarters, according to a Twitter post by the group's provincial head, Selim Temurci on Friday.He told reporters later on Friday that the rocket pierced the wall of the building but did not explode, and pointed to the involvement of the ultra-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C). He also said two assailants were involved in the attack.

Rocket attacks Friday targeted police headquarters in Istanbul and the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's local headquarters. Istanbul Gov. Vasip Sahin said on Twitter that no one was injured in the police station attack and an investigation had been launched. No injuries were reported on the AK Party attack, according to a Twitter post by the group's provincial head, Selim Temurci. He later told reporters the rocket pierced the wall of the building but did not explode, and pointed to the involvement of the ultra-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C). He said two assailants were involved in the attack. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said terror groups carried out the attack on police headquarters. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was briefed about incidents by Temurci and the governor. Turkey's EU Minister posted a condemnation of the attacks on social media. "While terror targets our people and security services, it also targets politics and tries to influence decision making mechanisms," Omer Celik said on Twitter. "Terror is ideologically nourished by placing itself in between the societyamp;politics. Thus, it tries to seize society's right to administer." He said strong bonds between society and politics are "the biggest barriers terror can't overcome. "Politics relying on society is our greatest foundation," he said. "Turkey, w/ its vast experience, sees through the ideological amp; political agenda behind terror. Terror cannot have an influence on Turkey."

Read more:

The people will make the ultimate choice in the referendum: Erdoan - Yeni afak English