The narrow victory in the referendum will not halt Erdogan’s authoritarian crackdown despite his opponents’ resistance, writes Howard Eissenstat

In a stunning rebuke of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions to expand his powers, Turkish voters have stripped his party of its simple majority in parliament, preliminary election results show.

TURKEY’S ruling Islamist-rooted party clinched a record landslide in yesterday’s parliamentary polls, but appeared short of the two-thirds majority it needs to rewrite the constitution, unofficial results showed.

FOREIGN Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday said he might make a fresh bid for Turkey’s presidency, in comments sure to stir unease in the country’s powerful secular establishment.