TURKEY VOTES CONSTITUTIONAL PACKAGE IN REFERENDUM, 58 PCT IN FAVOR OF REFORMS
ANKARA - Turkish people went to polls on September
12, 2010 to vote a package of government-sponsored constitutional
amendments as 58 percent of the voters approved the package while 42
percent voted against it.
The constitutional amendments put to referendum include measures favouring children, the elderly, the disabled, widows and orphans of martyrs and veterans, also measures for the prevention of child abuse and the protect of the child against all forms violence.
The reform package amends arrangements regarding the right to travel abroad which it says may be restricted only during ongoing criminal probes and upon a judge's order.
The amendment would allow membership in more than one labour union and it would allow individuals to file complaints and requests for information to a government-appointed ombudsman.
The changes would end the practice of expelling members of parliament whose actions were cited by a court as grounds to ban a political party.
Soldiers discharged by a Supreme Military Council decision would have the right to appeal against such decisions.
Moreover, military personnel who allegedly commit crimes against state security and the constitutional order would be tried in civilian courts instead of military courts. Civilians would not be tried in military courts.
The amendments also include change in structure of Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors, as well as the Constitutional Court, country's top judiciary body.
The package abolishes the provisional article 15 of the constitution which does not allow trial of the members of the National Security Council formed after the military coup in 1980, the ban on right to general strike; and paves the way for a citizen to become a member of more than one labor union, and civil servants and other public officials the right to collective bargaining.
It also paves the way for trial of parliament speaker, chief of general staff, and senior commanders by the High Tribunal on charges of crimes they commit regarding their positions.
Sunday's voting has been the sixth referendum held in Turkey regarding constitutional amendments.
The constitution, which was prepared after the military coup on September 12, 1980, approved at the referendum on November 7, 1982 and took effect on November 9, 1982, has been amended 16 times so far.
Sunday's referendum was the 17th amendment to the 1982 Constitution.
A total of 80 articles of the constitution has been amended up until today, as 3 provisional articles were added to the text and 2 of them were removed later.
The first amendment made to the constitution after its adoption in 1982 was on May 17, 1987 and the latest amendment before Sunday's referendum took place on February 9, 2008.
The reform package put to referendum on September 12, 2010 envisages changes in 24 articles of the 1982 Constitution and abolishes a provisional article.
