More than 9,000 Turks voted from Luxembourg

More than 9,000 Turks living abroad used their right to vote in Turkey’s most recent referendum by doing so in Luxembourg.

The precise number coming to the Turkish embassy in Luxembourg to cast their vote between March 29 and April 12 was 9,633. Most voters came from just across the border, Luxembourg being closer to their homes than Brussels or Strasbourg where voting was also possible.

Luxemburger Wort received this information from the Turkish embassy on Tuesday.

Ambassador Mehmet Haluk Ilicak said that this was not unusual because of a decree giving Turkish citizens the right to vote where they want.

According to the embassy, there are some 1,000 Turkish nationals living in Luxembourg, of which 512 have the right to vote. It is not clear to the Embassy how many of them participated in the referendum.

The ballots were not counted in Luxembourg but sent to the electoral commission in Ankara. This means that the Ambassador was not able to say how the vote turned out in Luxembourg.

During the voting period, observers from the biggest Turkish opposition parties were present “to make sure that everything was done the right way,” the Ambassador said.

Turkish opposition paper Sözcü had criticised the election process in Luxembourg because a higher number of Turkish people voted than live in the country.