Turkey's divisive referendum: Anatolia vs the metropolis

Turkey's most important referendum that resulted in a shift to an executive presidency produced a major controversy with both "yes" and "no" camps claiming victory because the results were so close and the latter announcing that it would issue complaints about the irregularities during the voting and counting processes.

However, the results that were publicized by Anadolu Agency after almost all ballot boxes were counted displayed a narrow win for the large coalition consisting of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and some minor political parties.

In spite of their expectations for a meaningful majority - meaning above at least 55 percent of votes - the constitutional amendment package only received slightly more than the required simple majority, leaving a politically and sociologically divided nation behind.

Here are some initial thoughts about the picture drawn by Sunday's polls:

A permanent division: An initial analysis of the results displays that a good majority of western towns of the country, including the three big metropolises - Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir - as well as fourth and fifth biggest cities, Adana and Antalya, have voted against changing Turkey's nearly century-old parliamentary system.

In spite of that, almost all Anatolian cities - except for the predominantly Kurdish southeastern region - voted in favor of amendments that will help Erdoğan expand his powers. Along with the Republican People's Party (CHP) and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) followers, the educated, urban electorate of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) stood against the changes although their party leadership institutionally endorsed them.