How Erdogan’s chilling new powers will allow him to crush all opposition as Turkey becomes ‘dictatorship’

VICTORIOUS Recep Tayyip Erdogan is changing the face of Turkish politics - to make himself more powerful than ever before.

The re-elected President is taking on extensive new executive powers following his convincing victory in Sunday's high-profile poll.

Parliamentary powers have been weakened and the post of prime minister scrapped, as measures given the green light in a controversial referendum last year finally take effect.

Defeated opposition candidate Muharrem Ince claimed Turkey was now entering a dangerous period of "one-man rule" under a hardline leader.

Erdogan's win could also deepen Turkey's rift with its Western and NATO allies, who are already concerned by the country's human rights record as well as Turkey's closer ties with Russia.

Here's what the changes will mean...

What new powers does Erdogan have?

In his victory speech on Monday, Erdogan pledged to bring in his new presidential system "rapidly". Once the new system is up and running, he can:

• Dissolve Turkey's parliament with no restrictions.

• Intervene directly in the central bank policy.

• Have almost complete immunity from prosecution.

• Be virtually safe from impeachment for any reason.

• Directly appoint top officials -  including judges.

• Impose a state of emergency whenever he wants.

So how powerful will Erdogan be?

From now on Erdogan is really only answerable to one man in Turkey - and that's himself.

By completely abolishing the office of the PM all that role's executive power have been directly transferred to Erdogan.

He will now become both head of state and head of government.

That means he can directly appoint ministers, court judges and bureaucrats, and one or more vice-presidents.

The national budget, previously set by parliament, will now be drafted by Erdogan.

Parliament could try and impeach him, but the final judgement would be made by the courts - whose members will have been appointed by Erdogan.

Those behind the new political set-up have likened it to the system already running in America.

Is Erdogan popular in his homeland?

He is loved by millions of devoutly Muslim working class Turks for delivering years of economic growth and overseeing the construction of roads, bridges, airports, hospitals and schools.

Others see him as pushing too much of a religious line in a nation that was built on the secular aspirations of Turkey’s modern founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Other critics, including rights groups, accuse him of destroying the independence of the courts and press freedoms.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a rights watchdog, said high voter turnout, at nearly 87 per cent, demonstrated Turks’ commitment to democracy.

But it also cited some irregularities and echoed opposition complaints about heavy media bias in favour of Erdogan.

Some 50,000 people have been arrested and more than 110,000 civil servants have been fired in a massive government crackdown that has taken place since a failed coup in 2016.

What has the UK said about Erdogan's win?

A Downing Street spokesman said the UK looked forward to continuing working with the Turkish president.

Asked about the result, the spokesman said: "The United Kingdom looks forward to continuing its close association with Turkey following the result of the elections yesterday.

"Turkey and the UK have a wide range of shared interests, including regional security, counter-terrorism and bilateral trade and investment.

"We will work with President Erdogan and his government to develop this important bilateral relationship."