Turks living in Germany began casting ballots on Monday in a referendum that proposes changing Turkey’s constitution to increase President Tayyip Erdogan’s powers. The controversial vote is taking place amid increasingly strained ties between Turkey and Europe, which is home to an estimated 2.5-million Turkish citizens eligible to vote. Bans on some campaign rallies by Turkish officials in Germany and the Netherlands have prompted Erdogan to accuse European leaders of "Nazi methods". German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Sunday that Erdogan’s rhetoric was setting back integration in Germany by years. Germany has about 3-million people of Turkish background, including about 800,000 ethnic Kurds. About 1.41-million have Turkish citizenship and are eligible to vote. Erdogan argues the proposed strengthening of the presidency will avert instability associated with coalition governments, at a time when Turkey is facing terrorist threats. Critics say it will concentrate too m...
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