TURKEY`S ERDOGAN HAILS CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM WIN
Baku, September 13 (AZERTAC). Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the passage of a wide-ranging package of constitutional amendments as a "milestone for democracy" after voters approved the measures in a Sunday referendum, CNN said.
In a resounding victory for Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), voters approved the 26 amendments by a wide margin Sunday. The country`s current constitution was enacted after a military coup that took place on September 12, 1980, 30 years to the day before Sunday`s vote.
"Our nation has said from now on, we go forward," Erdogan told supporters Sunday night. "Yes to freedom. Yes to rule of law. No to the law of the rulers. The tutelage of the coup regime is over."
But with more than 96 percent of the votes counted, 58 percent of voters favored the referendum, while 42 percent were opposed, Turkey`s electoral board reported.
The proposed amendments include articles that would allow collective bargaining for public sector workers and affirmative action measures for women. But when asked what was the most important achievement of the reform package, a senior Erdogan adviser made it clear that the main goal was to overhaul the country`s judiciary.
The proposed reforms include amendments to the judicial system, curbs on the power of military courts and an article abolishing the immunity currently enjoyed by the leaders of the 1980 coup. Other measures would guarantee gender equality and put in place measures to protect children, the elderly and the disabled.
One of the amendments increases the number of judges on Turkey`s highest court from 11 to 17. It also grants the parliament, which is controlled by Erdogan`s party, the power to appoint several judges. The senior Erdogan adviser, who who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak with the media, told CNN the package would "break the caste system of the judiciary."
In his victory speech, Erdogan apologized to political rivals he insulted during a bruising and divisive campaign in the run-up to Sunday`s vote. But to thunderous applause, he announced, "We are going to free the judiciary from an ideological abyss."
Opponents argued that the amendments would further undermine the secular foundations on which modern Turkey was established in 1923, giving the prime minister too much power over the judiciary and making him a "modern-day sultan." Berhan Simsek, head of the main opposition CHP`s Istanbul branch, told CNN that by packaging the judicial changes with less controversial proposals, the AKP had "coated a poisonous pill with chocolate."
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