THE TELEGRAPH: Turkey is on the brink of approving major constitutional reforms which critics say will pave the way for the key western ally to become an Islamic state.Opinion polls suggest the reforms, proposed by the Islamic-oriented government, will win narrow approval in a referendum on Sunday.
They will alter the constitution, originally introduced after a military coup in 1980, to enshrine the elected government's control over the military and the judiciary.
They are being promoted as a key step necessary if the country is to meet the demands for more democratic rule set by the European Union as conditions for a future Turkish bid for membership. But critics who support the secular separation of Islam and the state - followed since the collapse of the Ottoman empire in the First World War - say it will be a major step towards an Islamic state.
"The honest people of this country do not allow this," the opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said at a campaign rally. "Those in favor of democracy do not allow this, but the deaf officials of the European Union say, 'What a good thing it is you're doing'."
Since the election of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), and its charismatic prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country has moved closer to its muslim neighbours, including Iran, and away from a staunchly secular outlook that has played a major role in maintaining the country's position as a member of NATO and a key western ally in the muslim [sic] world. >>> Justin Vela in Istanbul | Thursday, September 09, 2010
