On April 19th, the Turkish parliament began considering constitutional amendments prepared by the governing Justice and Development Party, headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The first two amendments have been adopted in the morning of April 20th, after hours of fierce debate between members of the governing party and parliamentarians opposed to the constitutional reforms, reports RIA Novosti, referring to the Turkish media.
The constitutional reforms propose 29 amendments to the Turkish Constitution, adopted after the military coup of 1980.
336 deputies of the 407 present at the session approved the first amendment and 337 of 405 voting approved the second.
Members of Republican People's Party and Democratic Left Party didn't participate in the vote. The Peace and Democracy Party left the session during the course of the voting.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was present at the session.
After the voting the Speaker of the Turkish Parliament, Mehmet Ali Sahin, closed the session. The session will recommence at 3 p.m on April 20.
Turkish parliament adopts two constitutional amendments
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