ANKARA – Turkey’s ruling AK Party won parliamentary backing for constitutional reforms yesterday, clearing the way for a referendum that opponents aim to block, seeing it as a threat to the Muslim country’s secular order.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan says the reforms, overhauling the judiciary and making the army answerable to civilian courts, simply meet EU entry demands.
Political foes see the reform package as a furtive attempt to seize control of all levers of state by a party whose roots lie in political Islam.
The Bill, which changes a charter drafted after a 1980 army coup, passes to President Abdullah Gul for signature. – (Reuters)