Turkish Diaspora Weighs In on Erdogan’s Bid to Bolster His Power<br />But Mr. Kucukkaya said it had made life more difficult for him in Germany, where he said the reputation of Turks "is already not<br />that positive." "After those events I was traveling on a train and talking to this nice couple — about life, politics, et cetera, et cetera — and as soon as I told them I am Turkish, they stopped talking to me," Mr. Kucukkaya said in a telephone interview.<br />"People got ashamed." He added: "Most of us are getting shy of explicitly saying<br />that we’re Turks — when I say that I’m Turkish, people laugh at me and say: ‘Your president is crazy.’ It’s not a thing that you can be happy with." However, other Turkish expatriates in Europe disagreed strongly.<br />If she were undecided, Ms. Bulut said by telephone, "it would direct my vote toward ‘yes,’<br />because if I am a citizen, if I love my country, if I want to protect my Turkish identity, I should take a stance against how Europe acted.<br />Appalled by Europe’s treatment of Mr. Erdogan, Osman, who divides his time between Germany<br />and Turkey, decided to vote "yes," even though he voted against the president in recent elections.<br />He feared that his passport would be confiscated if he voted against the referendum and<br />that the Turkish government would reveal his vote to its supporters living in the country where he has sought refuge.<br />As they don’t like the path Turkey takes, they behave worse." Few who responded to the online request for comment or agreed to a follow-up interview said<br />that European opposition to Mr. Erdogan’s campaign had changed their own minds about how to vote on Sunday.
