Turkish lira (TRY) rallies against dollar and euro following victory for President Erdogan in referendum for sweeping political changes

A victory for Turkey’s President in a referendum on Sunday triggered a modest rally in the Turkish lira yesterday.

The lira rose two per cent against the US dollar to $0.2726, according to Bloomberg data, and was up 0.7 per cent against the euro at €0.2557.

Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan clinched a narrow victory, with preliminary figures showing 51.4 per cent voting in favour of the changes, in an historic referendum on several constitutional amendments that will grant him sweeping new powers.

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Erdogan has said concentrating power in the hands of the president is vital to prevent instability.

A mission of observers from the 47-member Council of Europe said the referendum was an uneven contest.

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Turkish opposition parties have called for the referendum to be annulled, official results will be released. There have been complaints of irregularities in the vote and a decision by the electoral board to count more than 1m ballots cast without the official stamp has caused uproar.

Turkey’s three largest cities Istanbul, capital Ankara and Izmir all voted against the slew of changes, which will abolish the country’s parliamentary democracy and replace it with an executive presidency.

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Erdogan took over as president in 2014, after serving as the country’s prime minister for almost a decade. He has claimed the reforms are crucial to ensuring stability.

The final results of the poll will be announced in 11-12 days.