Turkiet i protest efter kritisk demonstration

A constitutional referendum will be held in Turkey on Sunday, 16 April 2017. Voters will vote on a set of 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey. The amendments have long been suggested by the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and its leader, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, as well as being agreed to by the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The amendments include the introduction of an executive presidency that would replace the existing parliamentary system of government, the abolition of the Office of the Prime Minister, the raising of the number of seats in Parliament from 550 to 600 and changes in the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK). Proposals for constitutional reform were initially announced by the AK Party following their victory in the 2011 general election, but were pushed back after the all-party parliamentary constitutional committee were unable to reach a consensus. Following the election of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as President in 2014, proposals for constitutional reform and an executive presidency gained strength and were key AKP policy proposals in both the June 2015 general election and the November 2015 snap general election. On 24 May 2016, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was succeeded by Binali Yıldırım, with the former having resigned allegedly due to disagreements with Erdoğan regarding constitutional change that would reduce the powers or eliminate the Office of the Prime Minister. In October 2015, the MHP, which have historically been opposed to an executive presidency, called on the government to bring forward their proposals to Parliament, with party leader Devlet Bahçeli announcing that he would co-operate in the drafting process. The AK Party and MHP reached an agreement regarding a proposed new constitution on 8 December after a month of negotiations, beginning the parliamentary process of initiating a referendum on the proposals. On 20 January 2017, Parliament voted to put forward the proposed amendments to a referendum with 339 votes in favour, surpassing the required three-fifths majority of 330 votes. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) declared that they would seek to annul the parliamentary vote through the Constitutional Court, citing irregularities such as open voting and intimidation of MPs during the voting process. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared the referendum date as 16 April 2017.