President Donald Trump reportedly called Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to congratulate him after Erdogan narrowly emerged victorious from a referendum to inflate his political powers, Turkish officials told state media and Reuters. The referendum process occurred on an “unlevel playing field,” according to international observers in Turkey who monitored the lead-up to the vote. Not only did some “no” voters face intimidation at the polls, the observers said Monday, but the ballots themselves didn’t even state what the vote was about. “The tight referendum result shows how deeply divided Turkish society is and that means a big responsibility for the Turkish leadership and for President Erdogan personally,” she said. Other countries to offer their congratulations to Erdogan included Qatar, Azerbeijan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, Turkish state media said.

Source: Huffington Post April 17, 2017 20:45 UTC