Epress.am News from Armenia
Turkish Nobel Peace Laureate Orhan Pamuk has thrown his weight behind a September 12 referendum aimed at amending Turkey’s constitution to strengthen parliament and civil rights, reports MonstersandCritics.com, naming Deutsche Presse-Agentur as its source.
Pamuk was quoted by the local media as saying he would vote in favour of the referendum, which has been proposed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
He said he expected support for the referendum to go beyond that of traditional AKP voters.
The suggested changes to the constitution — which include greater authority for parliament and more limited powers for some public bodies mostly controlled by the opposition — had not found enough support in parliament and were therefore being put to a referendum.
The amendments, which are supported by Brussels, are also designed to pave the way for Turkey’s accession to the European Union.