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Changes, subject to a referendum, are to expand president's powers as head of executive while abolishing prime ministry.

Turkey's parliament has approved a draft bill that would dramatically expand the president's powers - paving the way for a referendum later this year.

The government insists the proposal to create an executive presidency will ensure more simple, more stable and more effective administration, but critics say it will give the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, more power that is unchecked.

Turkey’s parliament is set to commence two-stage discussions on government-drafted constitutional amendments on Jan. 9 that are set to usher in a major change in the country’s governance system for an executive presidency despite oppositional concerns that it will lead to authoritarian rule.

  While the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) plans to finish the discussions on the 18-article constitutional proposal in the general assembly in six days, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which opposes the proposal, is planning to block the talks.

The political mercury in Turkey is expected to hit record highs in April, when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) plans to put a crucial constitutional amendment on a referendum. Given the current political and social trends, the electorate is highly likely to approve the amendment and mark Turkey’s transition to an executive presidency regime — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest dream.

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) officially delivered its draft for a new constitution to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on Nov.

The government will implement a constitutional change and shift to a presidential system, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said, hinting that a meeting with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli on the charter had been positive. 

“With the MHP, we will make the constitutional change and realize the presidential system, God willing,” Yıldırım said Nov. 11 in the Black Sea province of Trabzon. 

Les autorités turques ont accentué leur purge contre les putschistes présumés, étendant au passage leurs filets aux milieux prokurdes.

Lawmakers and ministers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will gather for a three-day annual consultation meeting to clarify a road map for constitutional changes that will include the imposition of a presidential system amid a post-coup purge.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will submit its own charter draft that includes a presidential system, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said, a day after the nationalist opposition party hinted that it could support a referendum to chance the system.