Turkish voters approve changes to constitution crafted after 1980 military coup

Turks approve constitutional amendments

ISTANBUL — Turks approved sweeping changes to their military-era constitution Sunday — a referendum hailed by the government as a leap toward full democracy in a regional power still struggling with internal divisions.

With 99 percent of the vote counted, 58 percent had cast ballots in favor of the constitutional amendments, state-run TRT television said. About 42 percent voted “no,” heeding opposition claims that the reforms would shackle the independence of the courts.

The referendum on 26 amendments to a constitution that was crafted after a 1980 military coup had become a battleground between the Islamic-oriented government and traditional power elites that believe Turkey’s secular principles are under threat. It amounted to a vote of confidence in the ruling Justice and Development Party ahead of elections next year.

“We have crossed a historic threshold toward advanced democracy and the supremacy of law,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a nationally televised speech at his party headquarters in Istanbul.

“The regime of tutelage in Turkey will now come to an end,” he said. “The mentality will be so that those enthusiastic for military coups will see their enthusiasms stuck inside them.”

Street clashes marred voting at several polling stations in provinces with large Kurdish populations. A Kurdish party had urged supporters to boycott the ballot, arguing that the proposed changes would not advance the rights of the ethnic minority.

Since Saturday, police nationwide detained 138 people suspected of threatening people into boycotting the vote or casting their ballot in a certain way, Interior Minister Besir Atalay said.

In Ankara, the Turkish capital, President Abdullah Gul appealed for harmony in a country that, if divided on other levels, was fiercely united on one front this weekend. In an Istanbul arena Sunday night, Turkey faces the United States in the final of the world basketball championships.

“From tomorrow onwards, Turkey needs to unite as one, and look ahead,” Gul said after voting. “The public has the final say in democracies. I would like to remind everyone to welcome the result with respect and maturity.”

Political sparring, however, was unlikely to subside. Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Action Party, a hardline nationalist group, warned that the changes would weaken the state and embolden Kurdish rebels who seek autonomy. He said Turkey had entered “a dark era filled with critical risks and dangers.”

Erdogan brushed aside concerns, saying his party now wanted to seek consensus for an entirely new constitution.

The party has already won two terms, delivering a measure of stability following years of coalition rule. In recent years, Turkey’s economy has blossomed. The nation has grown confident on the international stage, seeking a role as mediator and improving ties with Iran and other neighbors while maintaining its alliances in the West.

About 50 million Turks, or two-thirds of the population, were eligible to vote in the referendum. Turnout was about 78 percent.

The date evoked Turkey’s traumatic past. Sunday was the 30th anniversary of a coup that curbed years of political and street chaos but led to widespread arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings, and Kurdish militants launched a rebellion a few years later that continues today. The military’s long shadow over Turkish politics has begun to wane only in the last few years.

The civilian government says the amendments fall in line with European Union requirements for membership, partly by making the military more accountable to civilian courts and allowing civil servants to go on strike. The opposition, however, believes a provision that would give parliament more say in appointing judges masks an attempt to control the courts, which have sparred with Erdogan’s camp.

The military and the court system, including the Constitutional Court, have sought to uphold the secular legacy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded Turkey in 1923, and the ruling Justice and Development Party has been accused of plotting to undo those principles.

The ruling party, whose reforms have won backing from the EU, says the hardline emphasis on secularism and nationalism must be updated to incorporate democratic change, including religious freedoms. It lost a battle in 2008 when the Constitutional Court struck down a government-backed amendment lifting a ban on the wearing of Muslim headscarves in universities.

The constitutional amendments would also remove immunity from prosecution for the engineers of the 1980 coup. Kenan Evren, the military chief who seized power and became president, is 93 and ailing.

Many Kurdish politicians said they would not vote because the amendments do not specifically address discrimination toward the minority, which comprises up to 20 percent of the population. Kurdish rebels announced a suspension of attacks a month ago, but that unilateral cease-fire is due to expire on Sept. 20.

Fighting, however, has persisted. Last week, Turkish media said the military killed nine rebels. On Sunday, a bomb believed to have been planted by guerrillas killed two pro-government guards in Sirnak province, bordering Iraq, Anatolia news agency reported. A land mine also killed a soldier in neighboring Siirt province.

In Hakkari province, assailants opened fire at a military vehicle carrying ballot boxes, Anatolia reported. One soldier was slightly injured.

Also, masked protesters calling for a referendum boycott hurled gasoline bombs at police and threw stones at a school used as a polling station in an Istanbul neighborhood, Dogan news agency reported. Police responded with pepper gas and chased protesters down side streets.

Similar protests were reported in the Mediterranean city of Mersin and the nearby town of Akdeniz. In the southeastern province of Batman, six police officers were injured and four people were detained in a protest linked to the vote.

Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser and Ceren Kumova in Ankara contributed to this report.