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Turkey may hold referendum to amend constitution in 2017

World Materials 25 November 2016 16:35 (UTC +04:00)
The referendum on amending Turkey’s constitution may be held in March 2017

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 25

By Atilla Caner – Trend:

The referendum on amending Turkey’s constitution may be held in March 2017, the country’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters in Ankara.

He said that the referendum will be held in case if the issue of amending Turkey’s constitution is not resolved in the Turkish parliament.

Yildirim noted that there will be no early parliamentary election, adding that the parliamentary, presidential and municipal election in Turkey will be held in 2019.

Earlier, Yildirim said the AKP is preparing a final text of proposals to amend the country's constitution.

Turkish president may approve the draft amendments to the constitution if the draft gets 367 votes in the parliament, or he can submit the draft to a referendum.

If the draft amendments get 330-367 votes, the president can either send the draft for revision, or again submit it to a national referendum. Deputy Chairman of the AKP Hayati Yazici said earlier that a referendum on amending Turkey’s constitution may be held in April 2017.

The AKP currently holds 316 of the 550 seats in the Turkish Parliament. At the same time, Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), represented in the parliament by 40 MPs, also spoke in favor of holding a referendum to amend the constitution.

The two other parties represented in the parliament, the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), are against the amendments.

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