AKP confesses regime change through referendum: Main opposition CHP

The government has confessed that Turkey's century-long republican regime will be changed if a shift to an executive presidential system is approved in a referendum on April 16, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said, citing a top presidential advisor who said the referendum contains "revolutionary characteristics."

"The regime is changing. They [the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)] say so themselves. A top advisor said 'the public will form its own state on April 16.' What does it mean to form a new state? Are we establishing a new regime? Will the name of the country change?" Kılıçdaroğlu said at a meeting in Bursa on April 11.

His comments came after Mehmet Uçum, a top advisor to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, stirred debate by saying the upcoming referendum has "revolutionary characteristics."

"It is not silent. Our public is making a revolution out loud. Are you aware of that? The public is taking a step to form its own state," Uçum posted through his official Twitter account on April 10.

In response, Kılıçdaroğlu said the country should "defend democracy." 

"Every farmer, every shop owner has a responsibility to their children and to history. We have to think through this. Are we going to defend the democratic parliamentary system or vote for a one-man regime? We are voting on that," he added. 

The CHP Deputy Leader Veli Ağbaba also blasted Uçum's comments. 

"This statement of the advisor to the president is not an ordinary sentence. It is a proclamation to revolt against the republican regime itself," Ağbaba said via his social media account on April 10.

"Those who rejected our statements that the regime is changing have revealed the...